The Sun.
London, England, 1860-08-27 00:00:00

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Lady Fortescue cannot want to meet gentlemen at very kind and obliging, and would do little repair s
the Argyll Rooms. Your worship, the.prisoner is or anything to make their places comfortable
with-
the greatestoy for years swindler going ; she.'everybs peen robbing out hesitation ; but when they failed to pay the
, paying nobody ; can write, as rent, which she never, unless in cases where the tene-
I said, seven different hands, and has been known meats were let quarterly, allowed to fall into arrears
to receive 40 letters a day, written, I suppose, by beyond one week, when she became exceedingly
herself. She has at various times been maid, wife, displeased and arbitrary.
and widow, and has been seen in widows' weeds,
that being part of her system. She speaks in a
plausible and ladylike way, which disarms all sus-
picion ; in fact, she is up to every dodge there is.
The last witness, we are given to understand,
hearing of these and other worse cases, had been
most persevering for weeks in following the pri-
soners about from one place to the other, both in
London and the country, and had at length got
everything in train to bring them to justice, when
the police apprehended them for stealing the child.
Mr. Firman said he had another case against her
of obtaining a pianoforte, which she had left when
she absconded from Mrs. Dawson's, but the parties
were not present ; and she had also endeavoured,
under the title of Lady Fortescue, to obtain a
Brougham and pair of horses, but fortunately did
not succeed.

SACRILEGE IN THE CATHEDRAL OP
NOTRE DAME, PARIS.

A considerable robbery was perpetrated on the
night of the 22d inst. in the cathedral of Notre
Dame. Yesterday morning the beadle of the
church, on entering the sacristy, perceived that all
the presses which had contained the valuable ar-
ticles used in the celebration of Divine service were
open, and that a great part of those objects had
disappeared. Information was immediately given
to the Commissary of Police, and an examination of
the place was instituted. It appears that the
thieves had during the night introduced themselves
within the enclosure of planks which surrounds the
place where workmen are employed in the repair
of the building, and by means of a ladder which
they found there effected an entrance through the
ogival window. They then got into the inner part
of the building, and broke open the presses. A large
ostensoir, in solid gold, was found jammed between
the grating of the window, being too large to pass
through. The articles stolen consist of a number
of chalices, vases, crosses, &c., ornamented with
brilliants and other precious stones. Among them
was a cross in diamonds, given by the Emperor on
the occasion of the baptism of the Prince Imperial.
The Commissary of Police of the quarter and the
Chief of the Police de Surete, on being informed of
the robbery, hastened to the spot and commenced
their investigations. After examining the spot
through which the thieves entered they were led
by different footmarks towards the parapet wall of
the quay, to the right of the sacristy, and in lean-
ing over this wall they discovered the end of a cord
attached to a ring which was just below the level
of the water. Thinking that this cord might be in
some way or other connected with the robbery,
they sent some boatmen to the spot, and when the
cord was drawn up it brought with it a fisherman's
net very badly fastened, and which contained the
greater part of the valuable articles taken, but
many of which had the diamonds and precious
stones removed from them. Orders were then
given to procure divers in order to ascertain
whether other articles might still remain at the
bottom of the river. From the discovery of those ar-
ticles, as above described, the supposition is that the
robbers, after having deposited their first booty in
the net, and sunk it in the river, whence they could
have removed it at some future time, returned to
the church to make further researches, and that
they were then disturbed by the barking of a dog,
and had hastily taken to flight, dropping some of
the objects on their way out_ By an unfortunate
chance there was no watchman on duty on the night
of the robbery, for being indisposed he had not come,
and a priest who usually slept on the premises was
absent in the country on leave of absence. There
was a dog near the spot whose barking probably in-
terrupted the robbers in their operations, as he was
heard giving the alarm between one and two o'clock
in the morning, but the robbers were not discovered
until the men employed on the repairs went to work
at six o'clock, when they were surprised at seeing
various sacred objects lying on the ground. A press
in the sacristy, which was not touched, contained a
precious relic, known to contain a piece of the true
cross. This object, which is never touched by any
but consecrated hands, is not shown to visitors like
the contents of the other presses. It is supposed
that that circumstance caused the robbers to pass
over the press containing it. The following are fur-
ther particulars :—The value of the articles stolen
is estimated even as high as 500,000 f., but that
amount is a great exaggeration. Although several
of the articles were, from their artistic workman-
ship, and from the precious stones which ornamented
them, of considerable value, yet they do not repre-
sent very large sums in a money point of view.;
and, as a number of them have been recovered, the
amount of those stolen is supposed not to exceed
25,000 f. Divers were employed yesterday between
the Ponts de l'Archeveche and l'Hotel Dieu, but
their efforts have not as yet been attended with any
success. A large crowd assembled on the quays to
witness their proceedings. The police are continu-
ing their investigations. •

The witnesses in the case of the child were then
bound over to prosecute at the sessions; and the
prisoners were about to be remanded for the two
frauds upon Mrs. Gregory and Miss Hemmings,
when

A gentleman stepped forward and said the female
had lodged in his house in Dorset-street a fortnight,
and had absconded without paying a farthing. The
instant she had obtained the dresses from Mrs.
Gregory, she wanted his servant to pawn one, but
he would not allow it ; and
Mrs. Dawson said she had pawned her watch
and chain in the Strand, a few hours after she ob-
tained it of her.

Mr. Paynter said in the first case it was merely
a matter of debt, and he could not interfere for
Mrs. Dawson, as her case was insufficient to convict
upon.

Mr. Paynter then remanded the accused, and in-
timated that, unless thejvariousicharges were taken
up by some solicitor, they must utterly fail. ,
The following, received by Mr. Firman, was
handed us :
" I hereby certify that banns of marriage between Allen
Ferric Johnston, a bachelor, and Millicent Helen Lavinia
Zara Hewett Portescue, a spinster, were duly published in
St. Mary's Church, St. Marylebone, on three following
Sundays, viz., Sunday, June 17, Sunday, June 21, and
Sunday, July 1, of this present year, 1860.
" Witness my hand,
" Aug. 24, 1860. " H. H. GYTON, Parish Clerk.
" The above parties were not married at St. Mary's
Church."
And by means of this trick it appears the creditors
were brought to the church expecting the marriage,
leaving the prisoners a clear field for quitting their
then place of abode, and going elsewhere to commit
further frauds.