The Sun.
London, England, 1860-12-26 00:00:00

POLICE INTELLIGENCE—Dec. 24.

LAMBETH.—THE AWKWARD CASE OP MRS.
CRAGGS AND THE CABMAN.,7-011 Monday, after the
night charges were disposed of, William Walker,
a cab driver, but who appeared to be a respectable
man, at least so far as appearance went, of his
class, and who stood remanded from that day week,
on a charge of robbing Mrs. Mary Anne Craggs,
the wife of a respectable man, of her gold watch
and chain, a gold pencil case, and other property,
in a common brothel, was again placed at the bar
before Mr. Elliott, for final examination.

Mr. Humphreys, jun., attended for the prosecu-
tion; and Mr. Lewis, jun., for the defence ; and at
the time the case was called on the court was much
crowded by persons anxious to hear the proceedings.
It will be recollected from the particulars given
on the last examination, that the prosecutrix on the
evening of Thursday week, left her home
in the Holland-road, Brixton, to attend a lecture at
the Assembly-rooms at the Horns Tavern, Ken-
nington-cross, and according to her own admission
was not sober at the time. After the lecture, and
while she was still labouring under the effects•of
what she had previously taken, she proceeded to
the White Hart public-house, a short distance from
the Horns Tavern, and there had sixpenny worth
of brandy and cold water. The testimony of the
barman who served, her there went to show that,
though she had evidently been drinking before,
she was not drunk, and had then her watch and
chain ; but her own testimony was that after tak-
ing this brandy she lost all consciousness, and had
no recollection of what passed until she found her-
self in a bedroom not her own in the company of a
man, but whether tae prisoner was that person
she did not know, and could not say. The next that
was seen of her was seated in the prisoner's Han-
som cab, which was close to the White Hart, and
she gave the prisoner some money to get a pint of
old ale, which another cabman bgought from ,the
White Hart. The prisoner then got into the cab
with her, and both were driven to a brothel in the
neighbourhood where they remained for two hours.
They were next driven to the residence of the pro-
secutrix in Holland-road, where the prisoner re-
mained with her in the back parlour for two
hours more, and immediately after, he was gone,
at four o'clock in the morning, Mrs. Craggs'
servant observed that her mistress was with-
out her watch, and a search was made, and
it was then discovered that the watch,
chain, pencil-case, and purse, which contained a
sovereign and 9s. 6d. in silver when the•prosecutrix
left home, were all gone. Information of the cir-
cumstance was given to the police on the following
morning, and the prisoner, it appeared, had kept
out of the way until the following Sunday evening
he gave himself up to the police at the Brixton
station.

Inspector M'Coy, of the P division, who had
charge of the case, was in attendance, and, in reply
to a question from Mr. Elliott, said he had no fur-
ther evidence to offer.
Mr. Lewis said ha had not been present at the
last examination, and requested that the evidence
might be read over, when he had some questions to
put to Mrs. Craggs, the prosecutrix, and other wit-
nesses.

Mr. Elliot said he could not allow such a viola-
tion of the usual practice as having the case re-
opened. On the last examination the prisoner was
provided with legal assistance, and every opportu-
nity had been given to his advocate to cross-exa-

mine the witnesses as he thought proper. The
case, in point of fact, had only been adjourned to
give time to trace the property, and the adjourn-
ment therefore, being for a particular purpose, he
(Mr. Elliott) could not permit a re-opening; but if
there were any question which Mr. Lewis wished
to put, he might do so through him (the magis-
trate).

after T h-ewdheipehosimtiro.n
Humphreyss were here raedadssdroeveerd
and called for a committal of the prisoner for trial,
nn
thee court,te s°'
on a charge of stealing the watch and other pro-
perty belonging to the prosecutrix. He was
sorry to admit that appearances told much against
his client, yet
he was enabled to say that her con-
duct, unfortunate as it was, was still capable of ex-
planation. Her family had been most respectable,
and she was the wife of a gentleman holding a most
respectable position as a merchant, but had, unfor-
tunately, latterly lost a mother to whom she was
attached, and since that time gave way to habits of
intoxication, which Mr. Craggs, her husband, did
his utmost to check ; but as he travelled on his own
business, and was from home for several days
throughout the week, he had not 'the opportunity
he could wish, and her intemperance led her into
the situation of being taken advantage of by the
prisoner, and robbed in the mannEr ehat had been
described. With respect to the robbery there could
not be the slightest doubt; nor could there be the
slightest doubt also, that the prisoner was the per-
son by whom it had been committed, as he was the
only person who had been in the company of Mrs
Craggs from the time she was seen with it until
the time it had been missed ; and, no `doubt—
Mr. Lewis—No doubt, sir, the case before you is
one requiring explanation, as my friend Mr. Hum-
phreys says, and also perhaps investigation ; bat
inasmuch as it is one that it is no credit to the
parties concerned in it, I should have thought they
would be but too happy to get rid of it.
Mr. Craggs (somewhat excited)—Certainly not.
Never, sir.
Mr. Lewis--7 Well, I really thought you would
have been but too willing to do so. It has been
stated by the prosecutrix that she was so drunk as

, , 101, 4D. STAMPED, sr•

to lose all consciousness after having the brandy at
the public-house ; but we find that in the brothel
she found fault with the strength of the tea, and
spoke rationally to the brothel keeper, and she
must therefore have known what she was about.
It has been said that no suspicion attached to the
brothel keeper ; but you, sir, from your experience,
must know that robberies of extensive character
take place at brothels ; and, I may ask, may not the
proseeutrix have left the property behind her at
this place?
Mr. Elliott—According to the evidence of the
keeper of this house, and I have no right to dis-
believe her, when she first entered the room where
the parties were, she saw the watch and chain
placed on a table beside which the prisoner stood,
the proseeutrix being then on the bed. She then
left the room to procure some spirits, and on her
return the property was not on the table, as she
had left it.

Mr. Lewis—Well, sir; drunk as she was, might
not this woman have taken up the property, car-
' ried it in her bands into the street, and dropped it
there, or somebody taken it from her. The prisoner,
though filling a humble situation, is a respectable
man, and down to the present affair has conducted
himself with honesty and propriety, and I say there
is nothing,beyond immorality, perhaps,which is not
consistent with his perfect innocence. Would he, I
would ask, have accompanied the prosecutrix to her
n
itcso
ehtowfoni
tspn house,
nhpeeecrdtioothnn e
property rurwe
with
vhvvth
leaving
ohe
hours
o eurt risk
lhdteh ioebi
er
there,
onh,t beingoehi s t
rr
ather
ta:
teen
hhke
ealprdba
parlour,
lahyovbeuebhrr
eseg,
deaowrnt vhdoraeui
had
dr
of
edo
f
this drunken woman as soon as possible, and have
and the question for you, sir, to consider is this,
whether any, jury i s likely to convict in such a
case. I think no jury will be found to do so, and
I hope that, for the sake of public morality, you
stop the case here, and discharge my client.
Mr. Elliott said the ease was one that must go
before a jury, and the prisoner was fully committed
for trial.

ENGLAND IN THE OLDEN TIME.

(From Dean Hook's "Lives of the Archbishops of Canter-

bu 6.")

Few persons seem to be aware of the amount of
bfpuer
fusion
iosorpnee rtoihft
ey enjoyed t
ihnevaßsirounisohf byta our
hnedpaue ancestorsisT Anglo-Saxon
e arly
rtaahcfeteewsr,
hatonhl
dee
s.
of the southern part of our island was at that time
under cultivation ; and William of Poictiers speaks
of England, at a later period, as the storehouse of
Ceres. Rye, barley, wheat, and oats were grown,
and the orchards were prolific with cider. The
grapes were acid, and the wine was coarse ; but
Smithfield and Holborn were vineyards from which
the cellars of London were filled, while the other
provinces regaled on the vines of Gloucestershire
and Essex. The hum of bees was heard in various
parts of the country, and their whereabouts is indi-
cated by the name of "Mells." Honey was a valu-
able article of produce and commerce, being manu-
factured into sugar and mead. There appears to
have been a wild pony natural to the island, and
English horses were in demand in the foreign mar-
kets. Although they were never much employed
by the Anglo-Saxons in military service, we may
presume that field sports required the maintenazice
of steeds, and fox hunting was popular not only
with the thanes, but, as we learn from Alcuin, with
the clergy and monks of Northumbria. The popu-
lation of the country being small, there were still
in existence large hunting fields, from which the
wild animals paid tribute to the tables of the
luxurious, while, beneath forests of oak and
beech, the serfs and slaves were watching the
swine which formed the animal food of the masses.
In the plains were herds of cattle to supply the
large demand for leather, when leather was required
not only for shoes and breeches, but for gloves,
with which even the common people were obliged
to cover their hands before they ventured to pene-
trate the thick entangled wood. Eels, in abun-
dance, supplied the Midland districts, and fisheries
were established on all the coasts. On the coast
resided the merchants, whose
,social position was as
high as it is at the present time. The successful
trader had a right to the rank and privileges of a
thane, and the laws made for the encouragement of
commerce was esteemed. The bisis of all our im-
provements in the manufacturing districts at the
prevent time is iron. Whenever a manufacturer or
mechanic gets an idea into his head, he goes to the
implement maker to help him to carry it out. And
even in the Anglo-Saxon times, though for a diffe-
rent reason, iron was the basis of wealth. It was an
litre when every man's hand was against his brother ;
;hen all Europe was one vast battle-field ; when
in the most retired district none but an ecclesiastic,
and in many districts not even he, could go unarmed.
Swords, battle axes, 1, alberds, javelins, spears, arrow
heads, all kinds of missile weapons, in addition to
defensive armour, head-pieces, greaves, and shields,
were everywhere in demand, and the possession of
iron was better than the possession of gold.
There can be little doubt that it was this, in
addition to the surface gold, that rendered Britain
such a valuable colony of ancient Rome.
Pennant, in his History of Wales, adduces
authentic evidence to prove tl*ethe Romans esta-
blished ironworks in the Forest of 'Dean in Glou•
cestershire. Iron foundries existed also in Sussex
and Kent at a very early period. The ironworks in
the northern and midland counties were not opened
until centuries after these had been in operation.
The ironworks in Sussex were not abandoned till
1776, and then not from want of ore, of which we
still possess an ample supply, and oisuperior qua-
lity, but because, in the expense of smelting it, it
was impossible to compete with the coalfields in the
north. In the counties of Sussex and Kent, timber
or wood was almost indigenous, and hence in the
Anglo-Saxon times, when wood alone was employed
in furnaces, the value of coal being scarcely known
the southern counties were what the mining dis-
tricts of the north have subsequently become. To
these sources of wealth must be added the plentiful
supply of flint ; flint being employed instead, of
iron in many of the missiles of war, though requir-
ing the use of iron to shape and point it.
* • * •

In our allusions to the courts Ethelbald and Offa,
we have seen the decay of morals among public
men ; and the evil example set by the great was the
more injurious, from the conformity of the royal
criminals to the church, and the readiness evinced
by worldly ecclesiastics to account their benefac-
tions as compensating for their crimes. From the
court, corruption descended to the monasteries.
It had been the wisdom of Theodorus to convert
the chief monasteries into schools of learning,
and these institutions were, for a season, a bless-
ing to the land; but when zeal for learning de-
clined, they became very much what the colleges
would be in our present universities, if they were
no longer places of education. From the begin-
ning, the monasteries of England had with few
exceptions been free, and in their corruption they
became lax. With laymen chiefly for their abbots,
they became at first agreeable country houses, re-
plete with all the appliances of learning and plea-
sure, but afterwards they gradually. degenerated
into abodes of idleness and dissipation. In-
centives to evil are sure to succeed rapidly on
the removal of intellectual restraints or religious
excitement. The demand for monastic reform was
everywhere on the increase among that portion of
the community which was still earnest in the cause
of vital Christianity and the religion of the heart.
It was first raised by Bede ; it was repeated by
and in
Alcuin ; it was urged in the time of Wnlfred ; but
among the evils of the time, the inactivity of the
of character
oneprimate,of t
the
eagn
rde,
aitne consequence,
st.
We
v e
d o
rloo ft hisin dseuefld'rafigna
find
s, w as
to Roble acts
com-
plaints made of the rapacity and injustice of the
English prelates,—charges brought against the
French hierarchy in its dealings with monastic in-
stitutions,—but there was a carelessness and negli-
gence in enforcing the regulations enacted with a
view to reform, from time to time, at the provincial
councils. Religion itself was emasculated, as
crett:heaalmhahvnedfnrengtu the once
condition of
we' gather from the popular legends ;
incapacitated the
which nerves the true Christian
of daring, superstition brought down
srtneagdlishotr'
aefoermfrionmg
btehcaotrthinnganwlihn
Anglo-Saxons, through a
high-spirited Saxons to a
imbecility which would have
nerved to the horrort4
aetsswe see it to be,
of a foreign invasion and if resist
lenPtnoccasion to refer. Mit tn"
infused into the vein,thenefw fusion not
bee"
s Illy _as_on of Danes with
peaceful process to which
degeneracy in anim l
demoralised a corag
to the Dane
Anglo-Saxon an easy prey .
led, nevertheless,capacity
to one great result. The in
of the rulers and the effeminacy of the people
enabled the noble f of a clear-
e few under the leading brio the
• eto bring
sighted, energetic dan generous prole., harmony
into
discordant elements of the IleptarcilY
ex to establish
and order, and in the King of Woo
a monarchy in England.. e which rendered the