The Sun.
London, England, 1858-10-19 00:00:00

rnE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 19, 1858.

and each member of them took an oath that he
would not divulge the opinion of any other mem-
ber. (Hear, hear.) He (the lecturer) asked that
the elector might be placed in the same condition
as the officer sitting in court-martial. (Hear, hear.)
Then with reference to "the Councils of the Sove-
reign," the Privy Council was a secret court and no
! member of it could divulge what took place in it
without the sanction of the Sovereign. (" Hear,
hear," and cheers.) The Cabinet conducted their
proceedings in secret, and many parishioners in
vestry voted by ballot. (Hear, hear.) The
learned lecturer adverted to several other remarks
in the pamphlet and commented on them to the
disadvantage of " Scrutator" and the amusement
and instruction of the audience, and in conclusion
proposed the following resolution :—" That as it is
now understood that a reform in the representative
system will engage the attention of Parliament
next session, this meeting desires to record its con-
viction that' no extension of the suffrage will be
satisfactory unless protected by the vote by ballot."
Mr. RUMSON seconded the resolution, concurring
with the observations which had fallen from the
lecturer, and expressing a hope that the public
would be alive 'to the necessity of securing an ex-
tension of the franchise.

•
The motion was carried unanimously.
Thanks were tendered to the lecturer by accla-
mation for his able and convincing discourse, and
to the chairman for his conduct in the chair, after
which the meeting separated.

that this body may be traced to the year 11 8.C.,
when it appeared, as Dion Cassius relates, " under
the consulate of M. Valerius Messala Barbatus and
P. Sulpicius Quirinus, before the death of Agrip-
pa," and for many days seemed "as though sus-
pended over the city of Rome." It is only necessary
to suppose that the comet's orbit coincided some-
what more nearly with that of the earth than it
does at present (an inference supported by several
subsequent appearances), and, taking the year 11
B.C. as our point of departure, we may recognise
the comet at almost every visit up to the date of
its last return. Notwithstanding their extreme
tenuity it is evident that these bodies may exist in
their actual state for thousands of years.
1 had prepared a few observations upon the
" original theories" of comets with which we have
been occasionally indulged during the last six
weeks ; but, on further consideration, have deemed
it unadvisable to occupy your valuable space with
such matter. I feel much respect for the " Morena,"
but very little for people who, with a high appre-
ciation of their own abilities, will not take the
trouble to acquaint themselves with the antecedents
of cometary astronomy, or, by acquiring a moderate
knowledge of the mathematical part of the subject,
avoid misleading the public with their improbable
and frequently preposterous notions.

POLICE INTELLI&ENCE—Oct. 18.

MANSION-HOUSE. Urban A. Godtz, a
native of Holland, carrying on the business of a
commission agent at 15, Fenchurch-street, was
brought before the Lord Mayor upon a warrant
which charged him, under the Factors' Act, with
having unlawfully deposited and transferred a
warrant for 1G bags of cloverseed, contrary to the
orders of, and without any authority from, his
principal.
Mr. Sleigh, the barrister, appeared in support of
the prosecution, and Mr. Lewis, jun., defended the

prisoner.
Mr. Sleigh, in opening the case, said,—My Lord
Mayor, I have the honour to appear before your
lordship to support the prosecution against the pri-
soner at the bar, who is a person coming within
the meaning of the Factors' Act, and who has an
establishment in Fenchurch-street, where he carries
on business ostensibly as a commission agent, and
the charge I have to prefer against him is one of
very great importance, not as regards him merely,
but as regards every person connected with this
great commercial community. The gentlemen I
represent—Messrs, Meuwissen and Son, merchants,
of Echt, in Belgium—consigned for a certain pur-
pose to the prisoner certain goods, a portion of
which he, in violation of good faith, pledged, and
by pledge obtained an advance of money upon them.
He pledged the warrant of title to those goods.
The statute sth and 6th Victoria, cap. 39, sec. 6,
enacts, "That, if any agent intrusted with the pos-
session of goods, or of the documents of title to
goods, shall, contrary to or without the authority
of his principal in that behalf, for his own benefit
and in violation of good faith, make any consign-
ment, deposit, transfer, or delivery as or by way of
a pledge, lien, or security, or shall, contrary to or
without such authority for his own benefit, and in
violation of good faith, accept any advance on the
faith of any contract or agreement to consign, de-
posit, transfer, or deliver such goods or documents
of title as aforesaid, every such agent shall be
deemed guilty.of misdemeanour." It appears that
Messrs. Meuwissen, of Echt, consigned to the pri-
soner, in the month of April last, 19 bags of clover-
seed upon sale, and it appears that subsequently
the younger member of the firm was in London,
and he had several conversations with the prisoner
in reference to those 19 bags, which the prisoner
told him he had received, and in respect
of which the prisoner said that three of
them he had sold, but that the remaining 16 he
was keeping out of the market, as he could not
procure for them the price set upon them by his
principals. It afterwards turned out upon inquiry
that the prisoner made his appearance at the offices
of Messrs. Barker and Co., merchants, of King Wil-
liam-street, and he there and then deposited with
them in the month of July last the warrant, or that
which is indicated by the statute as the document
of title in reference to these goods, and he deposited
it with them as a security for an advance to him of
£6O. That was without the authority of his prin-
cipals ; it was in violation of good faith •, it was in
contravention of the statute to which I have just
called your attention, and if the fact be as I have
stated then he is clearly guilty of the offence indi-
cated by the statute, and against which for the pro-
tection of the public that statute was passed. I shall
prove these facts before you, and then it will be for
your lordship to say whether the case ought not to
be sent to a higher tribunal for adjudication.
Mr. J. A. Meuwissen was then sworn and said—
I live at the South Sea-house, Threadneedle-street,
and agent to George Dornbusch, a merchant, who
is agent to my father, Johannes Renier Meuwissen,
who carries on the business of a merchant, at Echt,
in Belgium. The prisoner carries on the business
of a commission agent at 15, Fenchurch-street. I
know that my father consigned to him 19 bags of
- cloverseed in the spring of the year. I had a con-
versation with the prisoner in reference to this con-
signment both before and after the arrival of the
seed. Before its arrival he said he would sell it if
possible to the limit my father had given him, and
which he stated to be 545. per cwt. After the ar-
rival of the seed I had another conversation with
him, in the course of which he told me that he could
not obtain the stated limit for the seed. About the
23d or 24th of April he told me that the highest
price he could get for it was 50s. per cwt. About
the 12th of May he told me that he had sold three
of the 19 bags, and that the remaining 16 should be
kept out of the market, as he could not obtain my
father's limit for them. I never gave him any
authority whatever to deal with the seed otherwise
than to sell it.
Cross-examinedby Mr. Lewis—The prisoner and
Iwere not to be partners in the profit derived from
the sale of the seed. He did not tell me that he
had sent the seed to Liverpool.
Mr. Goodman (chief clerk)—The question is not
with regard to the seed being sent about, but with
regard to the warrant that was pledged.
Mr. Lewis—Did he not claim an amount for com-
mission charges and warehousing on the 19 bags ?
Witness—Yes ; but he never gave me his account.
Mr. Lewis—He has certain charges in respect to
the entirety, has he not ?
Witness—He has charges, of course.
Mr. Lewis—When he sold the seed he was to
send either to you or to your father an account
current ?
Witness—To my father.
Mr. Lewis—Was he to hold the money to your
father's credit ?
Witness—My father was to draw upon him.
Mr. Lewis—Do you not know that your father
drew upon him for £250 odd ?
Witness—Yes ; that was after he had received
the seed from my father.
Mr. Lewis—At the date upon which he sold the
three bags of seed did he not pay £5O ?
Mr. Goodman—Was not that in respect to the
seed?

Mr. Lewis—The account is as open as anything
can be.
Mr. Goodman—Does the £250 bill refer to this
seed in any. way ?
Witness—No, none whatever.
Mr. Lewis—Do you know to what the £250 bill
does refer ? -
Witness—lt refers to another parcel of 50 bags,
which has nothing to do with this case.
Mr. Goodman—The whole question is, whether
he had a right to pledge the warrants.
Mr. Lewis--The statute has this proviso -
" Provided that no such agent shall be liable to any pro-
secutioiffor consigning, depositing, transferring, or deli-
vering- any such goods or documents of title, in case the
same shall not be made a security for or subject to the pay-
ment of any greater sum of money than the amount which,
at the time of such consignment, deposit, transfer, or deli-
very was justly due or owing to such agent from his prin-
cipal, together with the amount of any bills of exchange
drawn by or on account of such principal and accepted by
such agent."
Witness—The prisoner has never
.given an ac-
count of the 19 bags.
The Lord Mayor—The question is whether the
prisoner had authority to pawn the warrant. The
subsequent part of the clause gives a sort of power
to the party, but he must render an account. The
question is, whether there was money due to the
agent which justified him in, acting as he did.
Mr. Lewis—There was a sum of £2O or £3O due
to him for what he-had done. lamin a condition
to prove that on the very day he sold the three
bags he paid £5O, and that together with what was
due to him made £7O, the warrant being deposited
for £6O.
The Lord Mayor—He had no right to part with
the warrant for goods consigned to him merely be-
cause money was due to him.
Mr. Lewis—The Act of Parliament allows that.
The Lord Mayor—No, it does not ; and it would
be a very dangerous thing if the law allowed a per-
son to whom goods were consigned to pledge the
warrant for them in this way.
Mr. Goodman—The warrant was pledged for
£6O. If £6O were due from the prosecutor to the
prisoner at that time there is a question whether
this act would apply ; but if nothing was due it
was suite a different thing.
Witness—After the prisoner sold the three bags
he remitted £5O to my-father. •
Mr. Sleigh—That was a totally a ifferent trans-
action to this.

Mr. Lewis—You say so.
Mr. Sleigh—The witness says so too.
Mr. Lewis---Haveyou not offered to the prisoner
to take £l5O in discharge of this matter ?
Witness—Never.
Mr. Lewis—Did you write this letter (handing
it to the witness), which is dated 31st Aug., since
proceedings were taken at this court ?
Witness—Yes.
Mr. Lewis—That was after he had pledged the
goods, and after you had taken proceedings here ?
Witness—Yes.
Mr. Lewis—Do you not in that letter say this,
" I have reason to annul the criminal act; there-
fore, instead of handing me this week or the next
week £75, •bring that sum to twice £75. In the
meantime I remain your sincere friend."
Witness—No, that is not a correct translation of
the letter.
Mr. Lewis—Did you offer to take two sums of
£75 each.
Witness—No_
The witness proceeded to read the letter, and
gave the following as a correct translation of the
passage qnoted by Mr. Lewis :—"lnstead of giving
me £76 this week, next week makes the =Ant

twice £75. -In the mean time, I remain your sin-
cere creditor." The witni ass added that this letter
did not at all relate to the. goods, the warrant for
which had been pledged by the defendant for £6O.
Mr. Lewis—There is an. open account, and we
hold this seed till the acocrunts are settled.

Mr. Sleigh—The prisoaer owes us X3OO.
Mr. Lewis—You make: the statement, and he
denies it; one statement Is worth as much as the
other. . _ _

Mr. Sleigh—Was the prisoner indebted at this
time to your father in an. amount of several hun-
dred pounds ?
Mr. Lewis—lf that cp iestion is put I must go
into other matters; I deny it.

Witness—He was.
Mr. Sleigh—And is he still indebted to him ?

WitnessLEe is.

Mr. H. Cutler, of the iirm of Cutler and Barker,
seed factors, of King William-street, produced the
warrant for 16 bags of clover seed, which he said
had been deposited with. them by the prisoner for
an advance of £6O. He believed the endorsement
on the warrant to be in the prisoner's handwriting.
Mr. Sleigh—l have now to apply for a remand
to a future day, in order that we may complete the
case.

Mr. Lewis—There is a good deal of correspon-
dence which. it will be my duty to put in evidence
on a future day. Will your lordship accept bail ?
The Lord Mayor—Yes ; I will take the pri-
soner's own recognisance in £lOO, and he must
find two sureties in £5O each, with 24 hours' notice
of bail.

MARLBOROUGH-STREET.--John Sullivan,
a sturdy Irish •vagrant, was brought before Mr.
Beadon, charged with assaulting Mr. Richard Car-
ter, barrister, N. 44, Upper Bedford-street.
Mr. Carter said that on Saturday evening he
was with two ladies in Charlotte-street, when the
prisoner came up to him with a boy and begged of
him. He told him he had nothing to give. The
prisoner, however, would take no denial, but pressed
upon him and apse on the ladies. He told him if
he continued to press upon them he would call a
policeman and give him in charge. The prisoner
replied, lifting his stick, "If you do I'll give you
cudgel," at the same time using very bad language
and calling him very bad names. The prisoner
continued to follow him through several streets,
using insulting and threatening language. He
begged the prisoner to leave the ladies, who were
greatly terrified • but the prisoner refused to go
away, making the boy cry, as if to excite the sym-
pathy of the crowd who had collected. Before he
could get a constable the prisoner came up to him
and struck him a blow on the side of the head, say-
ing, " Take that. Do you call yourself a gentle-
man 9"

Police-constable 47 E saw the prisoner strike the
gentleman and took him into custody. The prisoner
was very violent, struck him, threw him down, and
kicked him. 'Witness was obliged to get assistance
before he could lodge the prisoner in the station.
The prisoner said that he was drunk at the time,
and he did not know what he was about.
Mr. Beadon said it was very abominable cond,' 3t
on the part of the prisoner, and he should there-
fore send him to hard labour for three months.

MAR YLEBONE.—A well-dressed man, who
gave his name Armand Haynaut, a native of Nor-
mandy, and a young woman named Sarah Cooper,
were charged by police-constable White, 96 S,
whose evidence clearly showed that at 12 on the
previous night he found the prisoners in a most in-
decent position in Cambridge-terrace, Regent's-
park. They were taken into custody, and the male
prisoner, after much resistance, struck him a blow
on the mouth. _ _ _ _ _

For the assault on the constable be was fined
205., or 14 days, and the female was sent, without
any penalty, for 10 days to the liguse of Correc-
tion.

SOUTHWARK.—Thomas Curtis.a middle-aged
man, residing in Gravel-lane, was brought before
Mr. Burcham, charged with attempting to commit
suicide by taking poison.
Police-constable, 174 M, said, that about 10
o'clock at night he was on duty in Gravel-lane,
when he saw the prisoner sitting on the step of a
door. He appeared very bad; and was groaning.
Witness asked him what was the matter with him,
when he said he had taken poison, and he saw a
piece of paper on the pavement near him, on which
was printed " oxalic acid." He immediately took
him to a doctor's in the neighbourhood, where an
emetic was administered to him, and he shortly
afterwards recovered. He then took him into
custody and ascertained that he used oxalic acid
in his business.

Mr. Burcham asked the prisoner lehat he had to
say in answer to the charge ?
The prisoner said he very much regretted taking
the poison, but it was all owing to his wife's con-
duct. She was almost always drunk and neglected
her home, although he allowed her sufficient out of
his wages to keep everything comfortable. When
he went home at night to have his supper he found
her dead drunk and nothing provided, and in a
moment of vexation he took up a small quantity of
oxalic and swallowed it. lie promised not to do
such a thing again.
The constable informed his worship that the
prisoner was a steady man, but his wife was a great
drunkard.
Mr. Burcham told the prisoner that it was very
foolish on his part to take poison because his wife
was a drunkard. Under all the circumstances he
should discharge him, and he hoped he would not
make such an attempt again.
James Clements, a tall, powerful-looking man,
by trade a smith, was brought before Mr. Burcham,
charged with committing a serious assault on
George Searle, breaking his leg, and forcing the
stem of a tobacco-pipe into the roof of his mouth.

Sergeant Gardner, 25 M, produced a surgeon's
certificate from the hospital, setting forth that
George Searle was lying there in a precarious state
from a broken leg and injuries to his mouth.
Mr. Burcham said the case might terminate
fatally, therefore he should remand the prisoner for
a week.

The prisoner asked if his worship would accep
bail ?

Mr. Burcham replied that he could not under the
circumstances.

He was then conveyed to Horsemonger-lane
gaol.

LAMBETH.--Sarah Hill, a middle-aged woman
of diminutive stature, was charged before Mr.
Elliott with pretending to tell the fortune pf
Rosetta Parker, a married woman, residing at No.
11, Howley-place, Belvedere-road, and stealing
from her ss. 4d. under that pretence.
The complainant—l first saw the prisoner last
Wednesday week. I *lli at the street door when
the prisoner came up to me, and asked me if I
would like to have my fortune told ? I made no
objection, and invited her to take a cup of tea.
While at tea she asked me for a glass of water, and
remarked that I must put my wedding-ring in it.
" She then told me," said witness, "that I must
put the glass away where no one could see it, which
I did. She next asked me for my mother's ring,
which she put under my stays. She stated that I
was to let the glass remain till she called again on
Friday. She had 6d. before she went away. She
called on the Friday, when she asked for the glass.
At her request I poured the water from the glass
and filled it again. She then told me to put some
sugar in it, and she placed the glass away in a
cupboard. The prisoner next directed me to put
some silver in the corner of a pocket handkerchief,
upon which I produced four fourpenny pieces. The
prisoner observed that it ought to be larger money,
and that the larger the better. My husband, who
had been out of work'a longwhile, got into employ-
ment last week, and gave me 4s. to buy a pair
of boots. (Here complainant shed tears.) She
left, and I saw her again on the Monday,
when she asked me for the handkerchief.
She opened it, when, upon seeing the four-
penny pieces, she said, 4 I told you to put larger
money in it.' I got 45., which the prisoner took
with
a fourpenny pieces, and, as I thought, placed
them
piece of paper. After she did that, she
told me to tie some cotton round the parcel, which
I did. The prisoner stated that she would leave
the parcel with me, and would call again on the
Thursday following. As she did not call that day,
and as I wanted to bay my boots on the Friday, I
opened the parcel, Etna found it to contain only a
few farthings."
Mr. Elliott—What did you expect ? What was
all this done for ?
Complainant—She told me she knew all about
the planets.
Mr. Elliott—What do you mean—that she would
said that she could not tell
tellc Complainant
—She
?
e
fortunes by the cards, but by the stars.
Mr. Elliott—Did you believe all this
Complainant-1 did not put much faith in her,
but I never had my fortune told before. My mother
advised me not to take notice of such things.
Susannah Sharp, complainant's
the prisoner, on Monday, succeededmoitnhegre,tstainidgthhaert
wedding-ring, which she d
possesse 24 years, under
pretence that it wanted
repairing. She would not
mind the loss of the
money if she could get her
ring. _ ,

Police-constable 13 154 said that he took the
prisoner into custody at 1' Holland-street, Black-
friars, He told her the charge against her ; she
said it was all true.
The prisoner did not deny the charge.
She was sent for two months to the House of
Correction.