The Sun.
London, England, 1832-10-10 00:00:00

MARY LEB ONE.

Yesterday, Mr. Hutchinson, the overseer of Ma-
rylebone parish, waited upon Mr. RAWLINSON, the
sitting Magistrate, to ask his advice as to the best
way he should _ act under the following circum-
stances :—Some time back the parish authorities of
Marylebone procured a warrant of bastardy against
William Dabney, a corporal of the Ist Regiment
of Coldstream Guards, but were unable to appre-
hend him in consequence of his keeping aloof and
being assisted in doing so by the officers of the re-
giment. On that occasion, finding all efforts una-
vailing, Colonel Woodford was repeatedly applied
to on the subject, but he refused to produce Dab-
ney (a course generally pursued in such cases), and
informed the parish officers that they must appre-
hend the corporal when they saw him, in the same
way that they would a common mechanic. Things
went on in this way for several month., until at
length the Colonel was induced to cause Dabney to
appear before the Magistrates, that an order of affi-
liation might be served upon him, and which was
accordingly done. The parish however were then
no nearer their mark, for the corporal has neglected
to comply with the terms of the order, and a second
warrant has been issued for his apprehension, which
is as little regarded by Colonel Woodford as the
first. He (Mr. Hutchinson), therefore, solicited
the Magistrate's advice how to act under such cir-
cumstances, and wished to know whether the civil
authorities were to be thus openly set at defiance
by the military. He then requested Read, the work-
house messenger, who holds the warrants, to make
a brief statement to the Magistrate of the manner in
which he had been treated.
Read, in consequence of what Colonel Woodford
had told him on the former occasion, had kept a
sharp look-out for the corporal, and saw him the
week before last, standing inside the gates of the
Portman barracks, but on attempting to take him
into custody he was thrust back by the guard on
duty, and Dabney allowed to make his escape. He
immediately applied to Mr. HOSKINS, the Magis-
trate of this office, for his assistance, and that gen-
tleman ordered an assault warrant to be issued
against the guard for obstructing him in the execu-
tion of his duty. Since that time, however, Dutch,
Alderson, Key, and indeed all the officers of this
establishment, and himself, had been repeatedly to
the Portman-barracks to endeavour to put the war-
rants in force, but on making known their business
(not being able to gain admittance until that was
done), they were surrounded by Dabney's com-
rades, and he was invariably rescued from them.
In short, it was an utter impossibility either to appre-
hend him or the guard who committed the assault.
Read added, that he had also two similar warrants
against men belonging to the same regiment, sta-
tioned at the King's-mews barracks, and he de-
spaired of being able to execute them.
Mr. RAWLINSON, after hearing the above state-
ment, should be happy to lend Mr. Hutchinson any
assistance in his power, and directed Mr. Fell, the
chief-clerk, to write immediately to Colonel Wood-
ford on the subject, and desire him to produce
the men.