The Sun.
London, England, 1833-09-05 00:00:00

UNION-HALL.

An old sailor named Oxley was brought up,
charged with being drunk on the preceding night,
and breaking a pane of glass as he went staggering
along the street.

The policeman who took Oxley into custody
stated that he gave a great deal of trouble in leading
him to the station-house, and on the way thither he
knocked him (the policeman) down, and, his hat
coming off, he lost a silk handkerchief which was
placed in the inside for safety.
The defendant here interrupted the policeman,
exclaiming," That landlubber tells a lie, for I was so
drunk that I could scarcely go a-head. I was all
on my beam-ends; and how could an old chap like
me, sixty-four years of age, knock a matt like him
down ? I plead guilty to the charge of drunkenness;
and also that of breaking the publican's window;
but as to pay for the loss of the policeman's hand-
kerchief, I'll not stand that by no manner of means ;
I'd sooner go to quod than pay for it."
Mr. CHAMBERS condemned the defendant for get-
ting so drunk at his time of life, and was pointing
out the benefits which resulted to the community
since the establishment of Temperance Societies,
particularly in America, were those captains of ves-
sels and seamen belonging to the Societies were al-
ways selected in preference to others, and were sure
to be in constant employment.
Defendant—Why, your Worship, I belong to a
Temperance Society myself.
Mr. CHAMBERS-It appears that you have broken.
one of the piitictrial rules by which the S,,ciety is
governed. Where did you enrol yourself ? inquired
the Magistrate. _

Oxley—At Greenwich, six months ago, and I
never tasted spirits from that time until last night,
when I met an old 4hipmate, grog was introduced ;
I could not resist the temptation of getting drunk if
I belonged to all the Temperance Societies in the
kingdom; an, your Worsnip, I hope you will look
over my tr-tri4gres:ion this time.
Mr. CHAMBERS said that Oxley hail rendered
himself liable to be expelled the Society for getriog
so beastly drunk us to be incapable of walking along
the streets.

Oxley said that when once he tasted the grog
with an old shipmate he could not refrain from
having a good bout, as it was as well to be hanged
for killing a sheep as a lamb; and while he was
about it he thought he would have enough to satisfy
him for the next six months. He should go hack
to Greenwich, present himself before the Society
on the next meeting night, and pledge himself not
to get drunk again.
Mr. CHAMBERS said that in order to make him
not forget h s lbw ken frolic in town he should make
him pay a fine of 5 to the King, and also the costs
of the pane of glass he broke in the publican'f.
window.

Oxley paid the damage and then dela-Inel
THAMES POLICE

EXTRAORDINARY CASE —Yesterday Mr. James
Wren, an auctioneer and appraiser, in High-street,
Wapping, where he has lived in great repute, carry-
ing on a flourishing business for many years, and
who acts as agent to several Noblemen and gentle-
men possessed of estates in the district, was
brought befor;-: Mr. BRODERIP, charged by the over-
seers of Sr. John's, Wapping, with refusing to sup-
port his wife.
The investigation excited very great interest, and
the office was crowded with the overseers, trustees,
and parishioners, who were greatly astonished at the
eepose which took place.
Mr. Walton, the vestry-clerk, briefly stated that
a female, who represented herself as the wife of Mr.
Wren, and who said she had not seen or heard
him for seventeen years, called upon him on Tues-
day morning, and claimed relief. He examined h-r
very minutely, and he had no reason to doubt her
story was correct. On applying to Mr. Wren he
denied all knowledge of the woman, and refused to
make her any allowance.
Mr. Robert Stephenson, the overseer, had given
the woman subsrantial relief.
Mr. BRODERIP demanded of Mr. Wren his rea-
sons for not supporting his wife ? Mr. Wren sa,d
his reasons were that she was not his laNful wife.
At the time of her marriage with him she had
another husband living. He would ask her if she
did not know one Robert Rake.

Mrs. Wren, a little woman, who appeared several
years older, now stepped forward and said she dio
not know such a person.

Mr. Wren—Will you swear you were never
married to him ? Mrs. Wren—l swear I never was.

Mr. BRODERIP—D4 you rtfose to support her on
these grounds ? Mr. Wien—l believe she wa•
married to Robert Rake, and I refuse to maintain
her, inasmuch as her husband was living at the tium
I married her.

- _
Mr. BRODERIP—When did you first ascertain
that ? Mr. Wren—l really can't recollect I hsvt
not seen or heard of her for seventeen years and a
half before.

Mr. BRODERIP—IIave you lived with her as her
husband ? Mr. Wren—l have lived with her as het
husband.

Mr. BRODERIP—Where were you married ?
Jr. Wren—lc was somewhere in Bristol. I don's
(ecohect the church. lam quite taken by surprise.
I am indeed very ill, Sir.—(Here Mr. Wren wa-
greatly agitated.)
Mr. BuoDERIP—You do not appear very ill. 1
have known you mmy years, and I never ,aw yoi,
look better. Mr. Wren—This affair has quite uu•
❑erved me; I um feverish, and can scarcely artiru•
late. I would not have my wife and children, I
mean my family, hear of this.
r. BRODERIP—I really can see no sign of revel
about you, and I am sute you can articulate 'der!
•veil.

Mr. Wren said he was in a high fever, and poi
out his tongue that the MAgistrate might !cok at it.
M.BROPERW—You have got a good tongue,

Mr. BRODERIP-At what place were you mar-
iied to Kirby, and when and where was he buried ?
Mrs. Wren—l was married at Shepton Mallet
Church, by the Rev. Mr. Bloomsbury, to my first
husband, and he was interred in the Baptist burial
ground in Bristol in the year 1809.
Mr. BRODERIP said he knew the Rev. Mr.
Broomsbury, and asked Mrs. Wren if she would
swear whether she was a free woman when she
married Mr. Wren. Mrs. Wren—l will swear I was.
Mr. Wren said he did not believe it. He believed
she was the wife of Rake when he married her.
Mrs. 'Wren swore that she was never married to
Rske, but admitted that she had known such a per-
son. She then detailed at great length, in answer
to questions from the magistrates and overseers,
that, a fortnight after she was married, her husband
left her, and said he was going to Londo.i on agency
business, and during his absence she sent him 501.
in cash, her own property. Soon afterwards he re-
turned, turned her out of doors, and disposed of all
the property she had brought him on her m.riiage.
Her attorney soon afterwards wrote to her, and said
he had left Bristol. After proceeding to several
places in search of him, she was one day passing
through Cheltenham, when she saw her own swans-
down tippet in the window of a shop, which ou
entering she found belonged to her husband, and
she put it on her shoulders and walked off with it.
She assisted him a short time in the business, and
he again left her; and it was not until last week,
after a lapse of seventeen years and a half, that she
heard of him.
Mr. W. Acton said the woman had informed him
that she had money and considerable property when
she married Mr. Wren.

Mr. BRODERIP—Pray, what money had you ?
Mrs. Wren—l had fourscore pounds in \Vinpenny's
bunk, which he drew out in less than a fortnight
after marriage; and I had cash and plate in my
house, the whole of which he squandered away.
Mr.BrtoDERIP—Wr-re you established in business?
—Mrs. Wren said she carried on the business of a
glover and a breeches-maker, at No. 27, Small•
street, Bristol. She mentioned the names of se-
veral persons in Bristol with whom Mr. Broderip,
who is connected with that city, said he was ac-
quainted.
Mr. Wren said he was quite unprepared for those
disclosu,es, which, to a man who had held a high
station in the metropolis for many years, were must
painful. If the woman told the truth, she would
say that he was arrested twenty times for her debts,
and that he walked out of the church into a prison.
She was a bad character, and when he found het
out it had cost him 1001. to draw up a deed of se-
paration, and she had relations who were securities
for that deed. He had been hunted and tormented
all round the world by this woman, and she was
determined to be his ruin.

Mrs. Wren declared that she was,an injured wo-
man, and her own son had been pressed and sent
off to sea through Mr. Wren's instrumentality. On
the very day Mr. Wren deserted her, she pledged
her own gold watch and seals to raise money for
him. He now had property, and she had an equi,
table as well as a legal claim upon it.
Mr. Wren denied the allegations, and said the
woman's son had once stabbed him in the head,
and was sent to sea by order of the Bristol Magi
;!rates. 01) the disy he left her he had not a far-
thing in his pocket, and gave a waggoner his boots
to convey him to London.
.Mr. Walton said that Mr. Wren was quite ca-
pable of supporting his wife.
Mr. BRODERIP said the only question was, whe-
'her Mr. Wren was boned to support the woman
who had in so extraordinary and unexpected a man-
ner come upon him as his lawful wife. Mr. Wren
hail thrown a charge of bigamy on the waman.
he mean to persist in that, or did he mean to ssv
that he was not married to the mother of his chil-
di en in that parish ?
Mr. Wren—l consider myself as a single man,
unless that woman (pointing to the complainant),
calls that a marriage in Bristol. I mean to say she
is the wife of Robert Rake. lam sorry to ibegiti-
inarize my family, but I am not married to their mo-
ther, who has been the best of partners to me.—
( Here Mr. Wren seemed sensibly affected.)
Mrs. Wren again swore she was not married to
Rake, nor to any one since she had married Mi.
Wren.

Mr: BRODERIP said he was of opinion that he
(Mr. Wren) was bound to take care of the woman
as his lawful wife. He saw no reason to doubt her
story, and Mr. Vren must support her.
Mr. Wren said the parish authorities might have
..pared him this annoyance and exposure. As an
old inabdatit, whom the breath of calumny had
never yet assailed, they might have treated him dif-
ferently, and he would if tory required it have paid
the woman a guinea a week. He was engaged
principally with people of rank and title, and this
alight ruin his business. He believed M.. Walton
oat' some bad motive in doing what he had.
Mr. Walton and Mr. Stephenson, warmly re-
pelled the insinuation that they were RC, :led by
any ill feeling. They had sugge.ted that thi,i mat-
ter should by conducted privately, and had been
with Mr. Wren all the morning; but he treated the
matter so cavalierly, and s, strongly protested the
woman was not his wife, that the case was neees-
,arily brought here.
Mr. BRODERIP —lt is a painful exposure for Mr.
Wren, bur the overseers are ri,,t at all to blame.
the imputation against them breaks down entirely
Mr. BALLANTINE said the overseers could not do
otherwise; but among tradesmen living together
there should never be a disposition to act hastily or
with harshness.

It wai at length arranged, with the %life's consent,
that Mr. Wren should allow Mr;. Wren seventeen
.billings a week.

DISTRESSING CIRCUNISTANCE.--.A. few
evenings ago, a young mt'n, who resided at the South side
ist the river, paid a visit to a girl at the Toss nheail, to
whom he had for sonic time previously i ern paying his
addresses. On this occasion be was a little ihr worse for
liquor. The couple, before parting, were standing at the
mot of the stair leading to the young woman's house,
idayfully making merriment u ith each other, when she
wave him a slight pi:44 which mole hint stagger back-
wards upon a gate at the head of a stair leading to the sunk
flat. The gate was unfortunat ly not fastened, and fly tog
.ipen, the young men fell backwards down the stair. As
.t was dark the girl did not obg,rve the fall, and inno•
cently coasidered that he had run down tor the purpose of
creating a joke ; but his not answeiing tie his mon:,
cinch she repeated seven! times, alarmed her, and, pro-
curing a lighted candle, she found him lying on the stair
vith hiA head severely rut. %Vito the assistance of some
inemteeris of her family, he was taken into the house,
while the kindest attention was paid to him, and he so f,r
recovered as to be ab'e to walk home with assistance. lb
soon after, however, became much worse, and expired 10
hr course of a short time Tic state of the poor vilt-lag
Hind can scarcely he conceived ; the cieruinsaarce
s
usyed so heavily upon her spirits, that she has aLti,opv't,
unable to neind her usual et.iploynidnteantliti.te—i6:fast9e:
pi:
urn®
noise like
in Lan.
at
spire,
Nhla of
beNns 1:4
oaEny
eR%
like ahuman being,
vith the ear the same. It made a nois like the cryt,,i;
,t child.by Avfitieirti,7uidtre(iltswofaspeothprolewnhaidutsuatathfir,t,
•oriosity.
YcyA Courant. •,• :lf:frSrOlvtsvveface

THE LATE STORM.

FURTHER ACCOUNT OF THE WRECK OF THE

AMPHITRITE.

Boulogne, Monday, Sept. 2.
The conduct of the custom-house officers of this
port demands the most rigid and severe investiga-
lion. It appears, from the mest undonbtedtesti-
mony—and that not of one but of several individuals
—that they put every obstacle in the way of the
saving the crew and ship. I dare not at this moment
trust myself to reneat a tithe of the melancholy de-
tails I have received on this head ; but you may rely
on one fact as a specimen of the rest, viz. that these
custom-house efficers actually prevented by force a
woman from saving the I fe of an unfortunate sailor
who was struggling in the surf. This subject must
be examined irro nn the spot, and the English must
demand a rigid account of the French G tvernment.
The proprietor and editor of the Annotateur,
French journal published at this place, are resolved
on ..xpo.ing the facts of the ca,e in its columns, and
on exposing, as it should he done, the conduct of
these custom-house harpies.
The men saved are doing well. Two are con-
valescent. The third, who was the boatswain, and
who has been wrecked thirteen times, has a little
fever, and his knee is wounded ; but in a few days
he also will be quite restored.
The accounts of the two men at Barry's Hotel
differ to a certain extent from that of Towser, who
is ar the hospital. Towser was the friend of Fo-
res er the surgeon, and his si-ter had visited Mrs.
Ft. ester on hoard the vessel in the river, and had
only left on the 25th ult. Towser, therefore. from
motives of friendship and gratitude, does all he pos-
sibly can to exculpate the conduct of the surgeon,
and throws the blame on the Ciptain. The whole
three, however, agree on one point, and that is, that
if the surgeon or Captain had received from the
English Consul an authority, or orders, to land the
crew, every one might have been saved. Whether
that authority ought to have been sent is another
question; and whether the Captain and the surgeon
ought not to have taken on themselves the respon-
sibdity without any authority from the Consul is
another; but one thing is certain, and that is, that
all might have been saved if the proper steps had
been taken.

It appears that when the surgeon told the boat-
swain to get down " the long boat," Mrs. Forester
rushed forward and opposed it, saying that all would
be swamped together—that it was his, the surgeon's
basiness, first to take care of her, his wife, and that
in consequence of this protest, and of some alterca-
tion which was the consequence, no long boat was
got out at all. The men agree in stating that sixty
lives might have been saved in the long boat, even
if it ha,l nor returned to the vessel. Whether the
whale boat could have lived at sea is doubtful, but
the long boat would have done so.

The examination of the men who have been saved
has already shown the deplorable nature of the
transport or convict system. Young girls—young
women for small offences—females who might have
been easily reclaimed, and led back to the paths of
virtue, were all stowed together with 20 hardened
and most abandoned criminals from Scotland, whose
swearing, whose disgusting language, and violent
conduct rendered the ship the scene of constant out-
rige and disorder. Never was so scandalous a want
of attention manifested to the classification of pri-
soners as that exhibited in the case of the female
convicts on board the Amphitrite.
The conduct of the Captain was also most extraor-
dinary. When he saw he must of necessity be
driven on shore, instead of taking the necessary
steps to drive up as high on the beach as possible,
he threw out his anchor, and never cut away any
of his masts. He fired no signal of distress, hoisted
no colours, and showed no light ; but appeared to
abandon himself to the sole hope of getting off with
the flood tide—a hope which was perfectly absurd,
placed as the vessel was, with a tremendous gale
blowing on the shore and in the midst of the breakers.
The conduct of the crew was bold and faithful,
but- their obedience was so slavish as to ensure the
destruction of the vessel. They would not leave
the Captain. This was right. But they ought at
least to have endeavoured to save the prisoners.
Both Heuret, the pilot, and Henin, the master of a
fishing-boat, agree in stating, as well as the three
survivors of the crew, that it would have been most
easy to have saved the lives of all if proper steps
had been talc, n.

But, when the wreck took place, was everything
done that might have been to have saved the crew
and the convicts ?—Decidedly not. There were
very few of us there. Mr. Barry did all he could,
and•sorne English ladies aided me ;in restoring life
to some. But we could not be every where. The
British Consul ought to have ranged with lights at
least two or three hundred people along the coast,
to pick up the bodies. This was not done. We
had hut one copper of hot water, and but two bed-
teeads ready at the house of the Humane Society;
though certainly Mr. Barry opened his hotel, and
did all he could to save the lives of the unfortunate
victims. _

The Amphitrite was not seaworthy ; the timbers
were in a most shameful condition ; and the under-
wri,ers ought not on any account to think of pay.
ing the ownpr.. They have orq to send and exa-
mine the wreck, and obtain on the spot the neces•
situ proofs.
I have just had another conversation with Heine%
lie informs me that when he applied to have horses
to convey his little boat by land to the side of the
beach nearest the vessel, and into the water as far
as possible, in order to save time, that the horses
were refused him, and that the owner replied—
" What am Itodo if my horses are lost ? Who is
respumuble ?" If the English Consul had been
there the security might have been given, and the
horses supplied; and at least half an hour, if not
more, might thus have been saved. This is a pain-
ful reflection, but it is one which is universally
made.

FURTHER PARTICULARS OF THE WRECK.—It
app.-qui that as night closed in, the violence of the
gale increased, and the situation of the vessel was
evidenr lv becoming each succeeding moment more
and more critical. One or two guns were fired
from her, apparently intended as signals of distress;
but as the tide was running strong, and the wind
blowing with violence into the harbour, it seems
probable no available assistance could now be ren-
dered. The situation, therefore, of the unfortunate
creatures on board—inevitable destruction staring
them in the face, and the feeling of the multitudes
assembled on the beach, incapable as they were of
rendering them the slightest succour, although the
vessel appeared only a few yards distant—may well
be conceived, no words can describe the horror of it.
About eleven she struck, and, it is supposed, swung
on the anchor, by which her bottom was seriously
damaged, and a tremendous sea striking her shortly
after, she separated nearly at rnidships, and immedi-
ate sunk. The whole of the unfortunate convicts, it
is supposed, were confined below when the vessel se.
parted, and consequently were in an instant altoge-
ther consigned to a watery grave; not a vestage of
her now appearing above water; and in a few mi-
nutes the whole strand was strewed with dead bu-
llies and portions of the wreck, which the tide had
washed ashore—many- of the bodies still warm I
One of the hapless females had her infant fast
Jacked in her arms. It was a soul-harrowing sight
the mind s:ckens at the contemplation of it parti-
cularly
when viewed as one of the dreadful conse-
(petters of crime. The bodies, mostly females, cut
thus off in the prime of life, presented a most ghastly
sight. Many appeared to have been dreadfully con.
tused and mutilated. In the confusion which pre-
vails, it is impossible to decide whether blame can
he justly attributed to any persons, but not a few
amongst the English here are dissatisfied; and it
seems to be the unanimous opinion of both English
and French, that the vessel was not fit to be em-
ployed on such a service, as, from the nature of her
fastenings, and from the appearance of her timbers,
she would appear to have been unseaworthy.. Some
inference may be drawn from the fact, that the.
whale wreck has been sold for 700 francs here.

SHIPWRECK OP THE ANN AND AMELIA, FROM CAL-
CUTTA, OFF BERCK, NEAR ETAPLES AND MONTREUIL.

I am distressed to state to you that the Ann and
Amelia, a vessel from the East Indies (Calcutta) of
500 tons, has been dri►•en on shore off Bergues.
Five lives were saved when the courier left. It is
said that the Ann and Amelia has gold on board, and
that her cargo is of great value. She went aground
on S►rurdiy night, or on Sunday morning. The
Ann and Amelia is said to be a free-trading vessel to
Calcutta.

Boulogne, Monday, Two o'clock.
I have this moment seen driven on shore the
stern of a tradirne vea.el, bearing the name of
George and Elizabeth, of Newcastle, William licks,
master. It is thought that she must have been
ab uit 120 tons burthen.
In half an hour the bodies (nearly seventy) of the
unfortunate beings wrecked on Saturday will be
buried. Each one is supplied with a coffin, and are
to he interred side by side in trenches. I shall attend
the funeral. Towger has just come out of the
hospital, and has called on me to thank me. Poor
fellow, I shall not forget his delight when on the
beach; when be was picked up I spoke to him in
English.
Today the wind has gone down. The steam-
boat to Dover has left with passengers. The sea is
high and the surf is heavy, but the weather is fair,
though the wind is piercing.
l'Aur o'Clock.

I have jug, returned from the cimetiere. The
bodies were placed in plain deal c, ffitis at the Hos-
pital, and were carried on carts to the burial ground,
ou'•ide the town. Two large trenches were made,
in which were deposited all the coffins. The Eng-
lish clergyman was about reading the burial service
when I left, in time to reach the post before the
courier left.