The Sun.
London, England, 1866-07-12 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, JULY 12, 1866.

LAW INTELLIGENCE:—This Day.

COURT OF BANKRUPTCY.
(Before Mr. Commissioner Holroyd.)
IN RE C. M. CREAGH.
This bankrupt was a brevet major in the army, and to-
day he came up for the order of discharge.
The case was again adjourned.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.---This Day.

MARLBOROUGH-STREET.

THE ASSAULT ON AN ACTRESS BY A SUPPOSED MAD-
NlAN.—Cornelius Speedy, a respectable-looking man, who
was last week charged with assaulting a young woman,
who described herself as an actress, and gave her name
Alice Sheil, Little Rupert-street, was again brought before
Mr. Knox.

When before the magistrate last week the defendant be•
hayed in such a violent manner that every one who wit-
nessed his conduct believed him to bo mad.

On being placed at the bar to-day his conduct was quite
the reverse of what it had been on the former occasion.

Mr. Knox told the defendant that he understood ho had
been labouring under delirium tremens, the result of exces-
sive drinking. He (defendant), a strong man, had been
guilty of an unprovoked and violent assault on an un-
offending young woman.
The defendant said his mind had been affected three or
four times, but not so much from drink as trouble. He
had five months ago lost his wife through a premature
confinement, and grief through that had broken him down.
What he had done, and for which he was now very sorry,
was the will of God, and he begged pardon for acting as he
had done. He would, if the magistrate would let him go
back to Ireland, never offend again.

Mr. Knox said that the defendant talked about his act
being the will of God. It was evident that it arose through
his giving way to drinking. He could not permit such
things to bo passed over, and he would be unworthy of
the position he held if he did se. He should commit the
defendant for two months with hard labour.

A Meeting of London Thieves.

Last evening a gathering of a most peculiar character
took place in the neighbourhood of the Middlesex
Sessions-house, Clerkenwell-green, in accordance with
an advertised notice running thus :—" Thieves, thieves,
thieves, attend the public meeting in the Mission-house,
Turnmill-street, Clerkenwell, near to Hicks's-hall, on
Wednesday evening next. Addresses will be delivered by
a returned convict and three convicted thieves. Doors
Open at seven. Free admission." The building in which
the meeting was held is part of rebuilt premises, No.
55, Turnmill-street, immediately facing the wall of the
Metropolitan Railway, and used as the Cow-cross District
Mission-house. The largo roost originally intended for the
assembling of the fraternity is nice and cleanly white-
washed, with comfortable seats and a sort of platform or
rostrum at the end facing the entrance, and capable of
accommodating 300 or 350 persons when filled. In addi-
tion to the above, which was advertised, a very pressing
invitation was issued by Mr. W. J. Cattlin, who acts as
secretary to the mission, to all the most depraved charac-
ters in this notorious neighbourhood, including, as
it does, the purlieus of Cow-cross, West-street, Saf-
fron-hill, and the hundred-and-one adjuncts of the
Fryingpan alley stamp. The thieves were visited
at their own homes, and in the quarters where
they were known by a privileged few to resort ; but the
result was that soon after the appointed hour the large
room was crammed to suffocation, and indeed at a subse-
quent period of the evening the demand of the crowd to
hear the various speakers was so vehement that it was
found necessary to despatch some of those down on the
list to speak to hold a second meeting in another part of
the building, and this was as speedily and as densely
crowded as the first, and still there were crowds of lin-
gerers outside who found it impossible to gain ad-
mission, and expressed their disappointment is no very
measured terms. Precisely at half-past seven the
proceedings commenced wiih Mr. Cattlin offering up a
suitable prayer, after which the assemblage, which up to
this time was composed about equally of males and females
of nearly all ages, and of a very quiet and respectful demea-
nour, commenced singing a hymn to the accompaniment of
a blind young woman on the harmonium, when a violent
rush was heard from.the approaches from the street, and
immediately the place was besieged by a mob of men and
boys, who wore most indubitably the badge of the class to
which they belonged, and for whose especial benefit the
meeting had been called. In every description of dress,
broad-cloth coats, fustian suits, the seedy and shabby gen-
teel, the ragged shirt" sleeva, unvested, and a piece of string
to uphold the nether garment, with a majority of begrimed
flesh and suspiciously cropped hair ; this stream poured
into the place. The coarse sallies and jests, and in some
few cases the condemnation of the atmosphere in language
not fitted for ears polite, completely drowned the singing
and playing, and it was some time before the efforts of the
committee resulted in getting this great influx properly
seated, and restoring something like quiet. However, with
all this apparent rabble, thelanguage uttered generally was
not of that character which might have been expected from
that class. Beyond a slight admonition for laughing and
talking, there was nothing to complain of in the general
conduct of the closely packed mass, unless it was the use of
such expressions as "Come out, Jim, this is too hot for
me," or "All right, Bill, I've sent out for a gallon of ale ;
let's have that." On the other hand, the majority paid
marked attention and respect tothe addresses of the various
speakers, and joined heartily in the singing of the hymns,
and in more than one case the tears could be seen running
down the cheeks of some of the older thieves. One man,
evidently approaching his allotted threescore and ten, sob-
bed audibly, on the expression of some well pointed moral,
and wiped his eyes with his old cloth cap. Amongst the
juveniles the true character of Lord Shaftesbury's young
London Arab was plainly manifested. After singing the
64th Hymn, Mr. Cattlin delivered a short but impres-
sive address, introducing the "returned convict," and the
"converted thieves" to the meeting, and in doing so
spoke of his experience in the mission, and of the
sorrow and misery of the thief, even in his best
times, and their mental and bodily sufferings at others.
He pointed to the various scriptural texts which were con-
spicuously placed in different parts of the room in support
of his exhortations to his hearers to repentance. A young
looking man, of foreign appearance (John F--), who was
described as a converted billiard-marker and gambler, then
offered a very long prayer, and some portions of the Scrip-
tures were read. Jim S-- was then introduced as one
of the converted thieves. He was dressed in a suit of
black, and appeared in a very anxious mood to deliyer his
address. He traced the history of his fall:from the path
of honesty and his return to it again.
As the speaker was retiring a scene of great violence
and uproar took place, in consequence of the entrance of a
man in a state of mad intoxication, and who was said to
be blind ; he screechedand howled, and tearing off his coat
challenged the best man to fight. The women rushed out
of the place screaming, and in the mêlée several people
were knocked down, but at length two or three powerful
men seized the intruder and carried him out, receiving
severe blows, kicks, and scratches as their reward. The
returned convict (on order being restored) then came for
ward and delivered his address; and after some further
prayer and singing the meeting was brought to a close, and
the large assemblage quietly dispersed. There wore no
police about the place in.ltniform, although a detectiye or
two were recognised by soMe-Orthe fraternity.

THE WIMBLEDON MEETING.

The shooting for the first, or 200 yards stage of
the Queen's Prize commenced at nine o'clock, and
owing to the arrangements made by Capt. Costin,
proceeded without hitch of any kind during the day.
It is too soon to form any estimate yet as to the 60
shots who may prove victorious in the earlier stage
of the contest, since many who are well to the front
in the first or second distances fell away or are
overtaken by others at a later period. The follow-
ing, however, are the highest scores, a& far as those
have been at present recorded :

FIRST STAGE QUEEN'S.-200 Yards.
Points.
Private Pitts, Ist Somerset ..„ 19
Corporal Newlyn, Ist Hereford
Private Henderson, 12th Corn. 19
Private Carslake, Oxford University 18
Private Burton, 26th Middlesex... ... 18
Private Kethro, 4th Surrey ... ... 18
Major Richardson, 11th Surrey ... ... 13
Ensign Gale, 10th Surrey ... ••• 18
Col.-Sergeant Hogg, 12th Surrey ... 18
Sergeant Challoner, Ist Wst. York ... 18
Private Soraine, 23d Wst. York ..• 18
Corporal Hewes, Ist Somerset 18
Sergeant Hardy, 16th Lincoln 18
Private Fisk, Ist London 18
Sergeant Duncalfe, Ist Cheshire ... 18
Corporal Barnes, Edinburgh 18
Corporal Davy, 3d Essex... 18
Corporal Chuter, 25th Surrey 18
Sergeant Goss, 7th Monmouth 18
Sergeant Young, Ist Somerset 18
Corporal Picken, 3d Wigton 18
Private Smith, 2d Tower Hamlets 18

'don for the purpose of feasting the lrisitors in a be-
coming manner. An entertainment committee has
been formed, consisting of Colonel th e Hon. C. H.
Lindsay, Captain Page, and Captain Pixley repre-
senting the official, and Captain Styan, Lieutenant
Harrison Wier, and Lieutenant Farley representing
the non-official element. The attendance of the
Belgian Minister is looked forward. to, and with a
view to add éclat to the proceedbags the bands of
the London Rifle Brigade, Queen's Westminsters,
Ist Surrey, and London Scottish regiments have
been placed at the disposal of the committee. Of
these the London Scottish band is, in a measure, the
private band of the Council of Wimbledon, perform-
ing two or three times every day, with much ap-
plause, in different parts of the grounds, their new
bandmaster, Mr. Louis Beck, having bestowed great
pains upon their training.
Some idea of the rate at which the Camp has
grown and is growing yearly may be gathered from
the official status sent in to the Camp-commandant,
Colonel the Hon. W. J. Colville. Last year there
were sleeping in the marksmen's camp and regi-
mental quarter 900 Volunteers, not taking into ac-
count the staff of the Assoeiation, camp followers,
soldiers, police, or anybody else, but strictly the
wearers of a Volunteer uniform. This year those 900
have grown into 1,150, and a corresponding growth
is observable in all the other departments.
Honourable mention has been repeatedly made of
the Club, which this year is even more luxuriously
fitted up than on former occasions. In addition to
its other features the Camp also boasts of a capacious
theatre. Last evening, after gun-fire, a dramatic
performance was here given by members of the St.
George's Rifle Corps, affording much amusement
and satisfaction to the Camp, and an attentive audi-
ence. Lord and Lady Elcho, and several members
of the Council, honoured the performances with
their presence, and these did not conclude until a
late hour.