The Sun.
London, England, 1835-10-24 00:00:00

BOW-STREET.

On Thursday morning a young and fashionably-dressed
woman, who wore a very large and valuable black veil, was
brought before Mr. MiNsHum, charged with having stolen
a silk gown and a bonnet. The circumstances under which
the alleged theft had taken place were of a very extraordi-
nary and painful description to the parties concerned on one
side, and the investigation excited the deepest interest.
The charge against the prisoner• was made by the wife of a
highly respectable gentleman residing in Bedford-street,
Covent-garden.
The gentleman alluded to and his wife had a daughter
about sixteen years of age, beautiful and very highly accom-
plished, and between whom and her parents the most per-
fect love and harmony existed. Some time ago an aunt of
the prisoner's was in the service of the parents as a sort
of housekeeper, both of them being in a bad state of health,
and the daughter being rather too young and too much
engaged in improving herself in her education to super-
intend the domestic affairs. On one occasion only the
prisoner was introduced into the house by her aunt as a
milliner, to make a bonnet for the young lady, in
which the latter assisted, and they worked in the same
room for one day. A sort of intimacy arose out of this
single visit between the prisoner and the young lady,
and the former had since been in the habit of clandestinely
visiting the latter at the house of her parents, and it had
been ascertained that she had sometimes come there in man's
apparel. On Tuesday morning last a girl living in Bed-
fordbury, who had been employed as an occasional servant
lately by the parents, saw the prisoner dressed in a body-
coat, plaid trowsers, and a French cap, such as are worn by
men, at her mother's house in Eedfordbury, where the pri-
soner came to tell her that she was wanted at the residence
in Bedford-street immediately. On the same morning, the
mother of the young lady being unwell, the latter went to
her bed-room and said, 4‘ Don't get up, mamma, and I will
get the breakfast and prepare the rooms, as the girl has not
yet come." Shortly after this i;, was that the prisoner went
to the girl and said she was wanted immediately in Bedford-
street. The girl did not go immediately, and the prisoner
returned three times to urge her to be quick. In the inte-
rim a piano forte, upon which the young lady was accus-
tomed to play, was seen to be lowered out of the drawing-
room window, and placed in a cart, which was driven away
with it. There were two men with the cart. The girl,
upon her arrival at the house, saw the prisoner and the
young lady leaving the house, fle former in male attire, and
the latter wearing her mother's gown and bonnet.
The mother, upon missing her daughter, and finding,
from the girl, under what circumstances she had disap-
peared, gave information to the police, and Soper, an ac-
tive officer, was ordered to endeavour to trace her. The
officer having ascertained that her aunt was in service at
Brompton, went there, and saw her come out at the door
on Wednesday evening, but not being certain that she was
the right person, he followed her, and saw her go into No.
20, Tottenham-place, Hampstead-road. Early on the fol-
lowing morning Soper went to the house with Miss Clarke,
a lady acquainted with the family of the young absentee,
and there saw the prisoner come out, wearing the bonnet
and silk dress belonging to the mother. Miss Clarke, un-
fortunately went suddenly 111;00 the prisoner, and accosted
her by name, having seen her at the house of the parents
once or twice, so that she was at once put upon her guard,
and declined to answer any questions. She had a basket
with her, which was found to contain a pair of men's
trousers and a French travelling cap. There were also in
the basket a silk gown, and the lace veil-which the prisoner
wore at the bar. She was brought at once to this office ;
and the mother of the young lady attending, identified the
bonnet and gown as her property, and the same which her
daughter had worn when she went away. The unfortunate
lady appeared in a state of the most poignant mental dis-
tress, and said that her sufferings, at the extraordinary dis-
appearance of her child, were greatly heightened by the
circumstance of her husband being confined to his bed by
illness of an excruciating kind, and that the additional cala-
mity had almost driven him to madness.
The prisoner, in answer to the charge, said that the young
lady gave her the bonnet and gown which were found up-
on her on the morning that she left her parents' house. The
young lady threw them to her out of the second floor
window.

Mr. MiNsnuLL—Pray what is your name ? Prisoner—
My name is Maria Stapylton.

Mr. MINSHULL—HOW came you to induce the young
lady to go away with you from her parents ? Prisoner—
I did not. She frequently proposed to me to assist her in
leaving her father's house before she actually left. She was
constantly mentioning the subject for the last four months.
I have endeavoured many times to dissuade her, but she
would persist in her determination. I appeal to Miss Car-
ter, who stands there (pointing to that Lady), whether the
young lady has not repeatedly threatened to leave her
father's house ?

Miss Carter said that such was certainly the fact, and she
should have acquainted the father and the mother of it long
ago, but that she thought it a mere idle tale.
The prisoner said the alleged ground upon which she
formed a determination to leave the house was that her
father ill-treated her, and had even beaten her.

The mother (in a most indignant manner) said this
statement was utterly false. She was treated with the ut-
most kindness by her father, and, besides, she was of an
amiable disposition, was accomplished, and not at all likely
to conduct herself in such a manner as to require correc-
tion in any way.
The prisoner—The young lady had been in the habit of
going out in man's attire long before I knew her. The
first time I visited her in male attire she begged and in-
treated me to come again, as she had long wished to go out
but was afraid to go alone. I therefore consented, and
supplied her with male attire once or twice.
Mr. MiNsnuLL—How came you possessed of men's
clothes ? Prisoner—My husband has gone abroad and left
them with me. He is an artist of the name of Newberry,
and having married me against the wish of his friends he
went to America.
Mr. MiNsHuLL—Why not at once give information to
the distressed parents of the young lady where she is to be
found ? Prisoner—l don't know. I have not seen her
since she left her mother's house on Tuesday.
Mr. MINSHULL then sent Soper to the house in Tot-
tenham-place to search, and in the meantime ordered the
prisoner into a private room, where she was disrobed of the
bonnet and gown, and compelled to put on her own silk
dress and cap which seemed to annoy her very considerably.
She was again placed at the bar and remanded until
Monday next.
Soper afterwards came back, and brought a brother of
the prisoner, who said he knew nothing at all of the young
lady alluded to. He was an artist, and his father was a
musician, who had recently gene into the country in the
hope of procuring an engagement at some theatre. He
was allowed to go.
Yesterday morning the brother was watched in Tothill-
fields PrisOn by Goddard, the officer of this establishment,
who had received instructions from Mr. Minshull to attend
to the case. The young man there saw his sister, and she
gave him a note addressed to the young lady in question,

and the contents were to the effect that the prisoner was in
custody, and would be up at Bow-street on another day,
and that she (the young lady) must send her some money,
and swear that she (Miss --) wore the old bonnet when
she left her mother's house.

During the whole of yesterday Goddard and Shackell,
with Soper, were in pursuit of the misled girl, but could
not find her. Late in the day, however, some information
was obtained which is likely to lead to her restoration to
her distracted parents.
There are some rumours of rather an extraordinary na-
ture in the neighbourhood respecting the case, and the term
" abduction" has been freely used. In a day or two pro-
bably the whole matter will undergo another public investi-
gation. At present it is involved in much mystery.

THE LIFE, EXILE, AND CONVERSATIONS OF
NAPOLEON.—The great success which has attended the
publication, in shilling numbers, of his " Modern Novelists,"
has induced Mr. Colburn to give to the public, after the
same fashion, the celebrated Memoirs of Napoleon by the
Count de Las Cases, of the copyright of which he is the
sole proprietor ; and, accordingly, the first number is to
appear to-morrow, price only one shilling, and containing
112 pages of letter-press, the fine portrait of Napoleon
after David, and a view of the house at Corsica in which
the Emperor was born.

At the iron masters' quarterly meeetings, last week,
it was ctetermined that the present prices of iron should be
continued. The trade, we are happy to say, is unusually
brisk, and the recent advances, amounting together to 20s.
per ton, freely given.—Wolverhampton Chronicle.
THE METROPOLITAN POLICE.—The clerks and
others in office at Scotland-yard have, within the last few
weeks, been employed in reading and answering letters ad-
dressed to the Commissioners by young men desirous of be-
coming members of the force ; it is by no means an uncom-
mon occurrence, at the approach of the winter season, for
200 or 300 letters a day to be poured in, but at the pre-
sent period a greater number than was ever before known
has been dropped into the box, and upwards of 8,000 ap-
plications, principally from strong, healthy labourers, well
recommended, remain under notice ; it is understood that,
on account of so extraordinary and unprecedented an influx
of letters of the description alluded to, a notice will in a
few days be given at head-quarters that no more will, for a
week or two, be received.

INDIAN ARCHERY.—Some days after the misfor-
tune of these two horsemen, Simon Rodriguez and Roger
de Yelves set out on horseback to gather some fruit that
grew in a wood skirting the village. Not satisfied with
plucking it from the lower branches, seated in their saddles,
they climbed the tree to gather it from the topmost boughs,
fancying it of better flavour. While thus employed, Roger
de Yelves gave the alarm of Indians at hand, and throwing
himself from the tree, ran to recover his horse ; but an ar-
row with a barb of flint entered between his shoulders, and
came out at his breast—he fell forward and lay stretched
upon the earth. Rodriguez was too much terrified to de-
scend. They shot at him like a wild beast, and he fell dead,
pierced by three arrows. Scarcely had he touched the
ground when they scalped him, and bore off the trophy in
triumph. The arrival of his comrades saved the scalp of
poor Roger de Yelves. He related the event in few words,
and making confession, immediately expired. The horses
of the slain Spaniards had fled towards the camp. Upon
the thigh of one of them was perceived a drop of blood.
He was taken to a farrier, who, seeing the wound was no
greater than that made by the puncture of a lancet, said
there was nothing to cure. On the following morninc, the
horse died. The Spaniards, suspecting that he had been
struck by an arrow, opened the body at the wound, and
tracing it, found a shaft which had passed through the thigh
and entrails, and lodged in the hollow of the breast. They
were perfectly amazed at the result of the examination, for
an arquebuss could scarcely have sent a ball so fan—Con-
quest of Florida.
ARSON NEAR YORK.—The inhabitants of the
village of Murton, four miles from York, were last week
alarmed by the cry of " fire." Immediately nearly every
person residing in the place arose, when it was discovered
that two stacks belonging to Mr. John Cockshaw, farmer,
were on fire. By the united exertions of the people assem-
bled the fire was got under, but not before a stack of oats
was completely destroyed, and a great portion of a wheat
stack burnt. Fortunately there was very little wind or the
damage would have been considerable, as there were eight
other stacks standing nearly contiguous to those which were
burnt. That the fire was the work of an incendiary there
can be no doubt, as it was next to impossible that the
stacks could, from the situation in which they were, have
accidentally taken fire. Inquiries were, in consequence,
instituted, when suspicion fell upon a young woman of the
name of Harriet Young, who resides with Robert Cade
and his son, next door to Mr. Cockshaw. She was ap-
prehended on Monday last, by Mr. Pardoe, the active,
police-officer of York, and underwent an examination at
the Hall of Pleas, in Peter Prison, York, before the Rev.
Robert Sutton and William Prest, Esq., two of the Ma-
gistrates for that Liberty ; but the examination was strictly
private. Such evidence, however, was adduced as to cause
her committal for further examination on Thursday. It is
worthy of remark that the accused was seen in the street
nearly half an hour before the alarm of fire was given, and
that she was the first to give the alarm.

MOST lIORRIBLE CATASTROPHE.—It is seldom
that we are called upon to record a more horrible or shock-
ing occurrence than that described in the annexed extract
from a letter dated Boieville, Miss., August 13, 1835 :
" A most singular and tragical incident took place in this
village, that has cast a gloom over the spirits of all the citi-
zens, and clothed one of our most respectable families
in mourning. Preparations had been for some time mak-
ing to erect a large four-story mill and manufactory, in
the east part of the village, and Tuesday last was appointed
for the raising, As it was a matter in which the public had
taken great interest, the whole population of the surround-
ing country assembled, arrangements were made for a large
dinner party, and a bough-house was erected for the females.
With a view of surprising the women, some young men had
the night previously secreted in a thick grove of bushes,
about two hundred yards from the bough-house, a nine-pound
field-piece, heavily loaded, intending to discharge it when the
party were seated at table. Unfortunately it was pointed
directly at the opening of the bough-house. Some wretch
in the mean time had taken a cat, confined its legs, and
placed it in the gun. When the party were seated at the
table, the cannon was fired. Mrs. Blakeson, the wife of the
chief magistrate of the village, who was at the head of the
table, had that instant risen for some purpose, when the cat
struck her just below the shoulders, and passed through her
body ; she uttered a single scream, and fell lifeless into the
arms of a lady who was next to her—she was a highly ac-
complished and interesting lady, and the mother of seven
children, the eldest being but six years old. The cat passed
over the whole length of the table, upsetting several decan-
ters and pitchers, and its head was driven through an inch
board at the east end of the bough-house, where it lodged ;
and what is most extraordinary, although stunned and appa-
rently dead, it has recovered, and is now alive and well.
The authorities have offered a reward of 500 dollars for the
conviction of the miscreant who was the author of this
diabolical piece of mischief.— Western Herald—(or Richard
Adams Locke).

EXTRAORDINARY CASE.---OR the 26th of last
month, Charlotte Irwin, a young woman 22 years of age,
was admitted a patient of the London Hospital, she being
at the time labouring under great bodily debility. On
questioning her as to the origin of her complaint, she
stated that about twelve months before, she had a severe
fall, and from 60 to 70 needles, which she had carelessly
stuck in her gown, entered her side, the greater number
of them to such a depth that they could not be got out,
and the consequence was, that they had worked their way
through different parts of her system, and as many as 26
of them had been taken from various parts of her person,
some from her arms, some from her legs, thighs, &c., by
different surgeons. Her pain, as the needles had dispersed
themselves to the different parts of her body, had gra-
dually increased, and she ultimately became so debilitated
that she had nearly lost the use of her limbs, and was
reduced to her then condition. At first her statement
was generally discredited, and it was the general opinion
of the surgeons of the Hospital who saw her, that though
she had exhibited various marks upon different parts of her
body, whence she said the needles had been extracted, if
such had been the case she must have introduced the needles
externally near to such places. Her father and mother, who
are poor but honest and hard-working persons, residing in
Thames-street, as well as several of her friends, confirmed
her statement, and have given the names of the different
surgeons who had, previous to her admission into the
Hospital, and at different times, extracted a number of the
needles from her person. On yesterday week the unfor-
tunate sufferer complained of a violent pain in her abdo-
men, and upon the assistant to Mr. Luke examining the
place, he observed something close to the surface of the
skin, which with some difficulty he extracted, and found it
to be a perfect needle, in such a state of discolouration as
to leave very little doubt that it had been in the body for
some time. The poor creature states that she can dis-
tinctly feel that a needle is placed in both the knee and
ancle joints of the right leg, from both of which she ex-
periences the most excruciating pain, and she has fre-
quently expressed a wish that this leg should be ampu-
tated ; as she says she has very little doubt but that a
great portion of the needles still remaining in her frame
will be found lodged in it. The surgeons of the institution
consider the case as a most singular one, and are conse-
quently paying great attention to it ; but it is not more
singular than one mentioned by Sir Astley Cooper (we
hnlieve), who in nne ne his leefurn stated that he had
tracted as many as a dozen nails from different parts of the
body of a man who used to swallow them for wagers.

BRISTOL AGRICULTURAL SOCIET

(From the Sherborne Mercury.)
The ploughing match of the Bristol Agricultural So-
ciety took place on Broadfield Down, on the 7thinstant, and,
the novelty of the occurrence excited a very extensive ana
most beneficial interest in the neighbourhood. The plough"
ing being over, the company, to the number of fifty, ad-
journed to the Darlington Arms, Red-hill, to dinner, whither
they were accompanied from the field by J. H. SnlYthi
Pigott, Esq., the Vice-President of the Society, who was
to preside at the dinner table.
After the customary loyal toasts,
The CHAIRMAN proposed " The 'health :of Mr. Webb
Hall."
Mr. HALL, in returning thanks, proceeded to cornmet2t
on the present situation or the farmer, which he was de•
sirous to do practically, and with a due regard to the seve-
ral classes connected in the pursuit. He alluded to the
splendid meeting of the Liverpool Agricultural Society re'
cently held, where seven hundred individuals were said to
have dined together, and where Lord Stanley, its talented
President, had expressed the opinion that the sooner the
delusion of expecting high prices was done away with
the better. In that opinion he (Mr. Hall) fully con-
curred, although the present lowness of price was In sonabe
measure to be attributed to good harvests, and for laic
he, in common he hoped with a majority of thoo pa
sent, was deeply grateful ; yet many of the causes whicil ha
produced the present unexampled depression were pacer
sarily of a permanent character. We had now a monopeir
of the home market, and with the exception of poor-rates
for Ireland, and the adjustment of local burdens, he believed
the Government of the country could render no assistance
to the farmer ; it therefore was imperative to bring down
the expenses of cultivation to some proportion with existing
prices. He had never until lately been an advocate for eat
tensive reduction of rent. But now, with no rosource but
from limited expenses, it was absolutely indispen.sable that
such should be the case, and he would appeal to eirery fai"
mer present, whetherit were possible that a payment of tw°
bushels of wheat for a week's wages to a labourer her
bandry could be kept up. He called upon the proprietors
not to delay those reductions which even-handed justicelr
quired until it was too late. Mr. Hall concluded with we
appropriate motto of " Live and let live."
Mr. COCKBURN said that in every part of the observaiticas
delivered by Mr. Hall he fully concurred.
The ploughmen were then called in, and severally al-
dressed by the Chairman, who concluded by proposing ale°
healths.