The Sun.
London, England, 1844-04-02 00:00:00

Lowflow, TITE&DAY moRIs'ING, APRIL 2, 1844.,

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.
MIDLAND ClRCUlT.—Coventry, March 28.
• (Before Chief Justice TINDAL.)
CON.—HUNT V. HICKLLN.
This was an action to recover compensation in damages
from the defendant, for criminal conversation had with the
plaintiff's wife.
Mr. Humfrey- and Mr. Miller were counsel for the plaintiff.
Mr. -Whitehurst conducted the defence.
The plaintiff is a publican, living at Bedworth ; the defen-
dant is a ribbon manufacturer.
The evidence of one Sarah Bird, aged 17, who was for-
merly in'the plaintiff's service, and by which the case was
sought to be made out, was, that while she was in service
with the plaintiff's family defendant was on familiar visiting
terms, and that she had on many occasions been sent out on
trifling errands when the husbapd was out and the defendant
there, or to bed when the plaintiff had gone to bed, so that Mrs.
Hunt and Hicklin would be left alone. On Sunday, the
16th of July last, her master and mistress had dined, when
Mrs. Hunt went up stairs to dress for church, while her
husband went to lie down, saving he was to be called at
three, as he wished to go to Voleshill, a distance of a few
miles from Bedworth. Mrs. Hunt went to church, and the
plaintiff went out at half-past three, on foot, for Foleshill.
The mother of the girl, Bird, was in the house at the time,
and remained there until Mrs. Huut came from church.
After tea Hicklin came in and asked for Hunt, and was
told he had gone to Foleshill. He called for a glass
of ale and the newspaper. Witness's mother put
on her bonnet to •go a little way into the town,
when her mistress sent her away, saving she might go with
her mother, Mrs. Hunt showing them out the back way,
and going a little way with them, and then returning,
nobody being left in the house but her and the defendant.
The witness quitted her mother, going to the house of an
acquaintance, but was fetched away by her mother to her
mistress's, where she found things in confusion, her master
and mistress there, and a constable named Smith. Mrs.
Hunt was crying, and there lay on the parlour floor a piece
of board, broken out of the partition which divided the
kitchen and parlour. Mrs. Hunt soon after went away to
Foleshill, to a house kept by the father of the witness, and
went to lay down on the bed. The defendant came in in
half an hour,, and went up stairs to her. On seeing her
he said, "Why the devil do you lie there, Mawnsey ?"
and pulled her up by the hand. She was crying, and he
put his arm round her neck and wiped her eyes, and said
" Never mind, worse jobs than this happened, and we shall
get over
In cross-examination she said she had been sent to bed
sometimes when other poisons besides Ilicklin were there.
Mr. and Mrs. Hunt seemed to live happy together. Never
heard him beat her. They differed about once a week, a few
words or so.
Another witness who was called, upon being questioned
whether the plaintiff had not seen his wife since this occur-
rence frequently, gave several very evasive replies.
Joseph Kelly, of Bedworth, a grocer, deposed to a conver:
sation he had with the defendant, in which he confessed to
the witness that an improper intimacy had existed between
him (Hicklin) and Mrs. Hunt.
Mr. Whitehurst said it was evident no conjugal happiness
had been destroyed, and as to a claim for the loss of the
valuable society of such a wife, what would it amount to?
The Jury thought 591., and gave it. •

OXFORD ClRCUlT.—Gloucester, March 30.
CIVIL SlDE.—(Before Mr. Baron PARKE.)
lIARBERT V. EDGINTON.
The trial of this cause, which had been partly heard yes-
terday, was resumed this morning at nine o'clock.
Mr. Sergeant Talfourd and Mr. W. J. Alexander appeared
as counsel for the plaintiff; and Mr. Godson and Mr. F. V.
Lee for the defendant.
This was' an action for a breach of promice of marriage, to
which the defendant pleaded, in the first place, that he never
did promise to marry the plaintiff; and'secondly, that she was
not of sober or temperate habits; but was accustomed to get
drunk with wine and spirituous liquors.
The unusual nature of the defence in this case invested it
with a good deal of interest. The parties on the record were
wither of them in the heyday of youth, bOth of them having
turned the goal of 40, that sober, unsentimental, practical
stage in the race of life, when the agreeable begins to be re-
garded as of secondary importance to the useful. The plain-
tiff, Miss Elizabeth Harbert, is the daughter of a respectable
farmer, who formerly resided at Oddinton, but who died so
long ago as 1823, leaving a widow with eight daughters and
one son, all of whom were respectably brought up by their
mother. About fourteen years ago the plaintiff went to live
with her twobitchelor uncles, who were farmers at Broadwell,
as housekeeper, and continued with them until May last,
when her uncles gave up the Broadwell farm, and went
to live with the plaintiff's mother at Oddinton. The
defendant, Mr. Edginton, was a tenant of Lord Leigh,
occupying a farm of some 300 or 400 acres, in the same
neighbourhood. In April last year lie took a farm called
Frogmore, which brought him nearer to Broadwell, and on
the 2d of that month he asked one of the plaintiff's uncles
whether he was willing to part with his housekeeper, as he
intended to make her his wife, if the family and the lady had
no objection to the match. After this he was received as the
intended husband-Of the plaintiff, and visited the house two
or three times a-week till Thursday, the Bth of June, when he
fixed the day of marriage for that day week, and prepara-
tions were made for the ceremony. On the Sunday follow-
ing he brought with him a number of wedding rings, but—
ominous mischance!—not one of them happened to fit the
finger of his bride elect. From that day the course of the
lady's affections ran any thing but smooth. On the next
Tuesday the defendant had cooled wonderfully : his blood,
which had previously been up to " marriage heat," was down
at" temperate;" and he requested that the marriage might
be put off till the beginning of the next week, as he was not
very well. He did not appear to be unwell, but as a man,
generally speaking, neither takes a wife nor eats blackberries
on compulsion, Mr. Edginton had his own way, and took
jh
ui snlee,awv
when
n Nt
hoet hpilnagi
nmt
ffo rreewc
eai%dh heard
let
teo frlfiriommthi lilmt ht
toe
t2h4etlfrolo-f
lowing effect :
" Dear Madam,—l doubt not but that you consider it
strange that I have not been to Oddinton lately. I trust the
inclosed copy of a letter will be sufficient to convince you that
lamin a very unsettled state of mind. Perhaps you will be
able to understand it, and know from whence it came.
" I am, Madam, yours respectfully-,
" W. EDGINTON."
The inclosed letter, which was dated the 19th of June, and
was directed to " Mr. W. Edginton, Frogmore Farm, More-
ton in-the-Marsh, Gloucestershire," was as follows :
" Sir,—As a friend and well-wisher, I have taken the
liberty of writing to you on a most delicate and important
subject. I have been informed that you are going to enter
into wedlock with a lady resident at Bri.adwell. I feel sorry
to injure the character of a female of respectable family, but
I feel myself in duty bound, as an old friend, to apprise you
that there is strong reason to believe she is addicted to a
practice disgraceful to a woman, and that would lie ruinous
to her husband. I shall say nothing more, but believe me to
be your well-wisher. • " ANONYMOUS."
After receiving this letter from the defendant, Miss Har-
bert, accompanied by her sister, went over to Mr. Edgtnton,
when lie said that he did not believe the anonymous letter,
but thought it desirable that the marriage should be put off
for a few days. He told her " not to fret about it," and said
he was willing to carry on the correspondence as if nothing
had occurred,- but nothing more was heard from him about
the marriage, and upon being pressed upon the subject, he
said, " I suppose you must action me." Upon another occa-
sion he said, " If she wants 2001. or 3001., I suppose she must
haire it." It appeared that the defendant had communicated
to 'several persons, as a fact, that the 'plaintiff was of intem-
perate habits, and on the 21st of Sept. the match was posi-
tively broken off on his part.
To rebut the charge contained in the defendant's plea, a
very great number of witnesses were examined, consisting
not only of her relatives, but several servants who had lived
with her uncles during her residence with them, some neigh-
bours,a
sin?
that
tl
sattendant.x t
rTe
ihne generalely
temperate, effect
buotf
theirevainddeacheerw
it seemed that she was subject to bilious attacks, which occa-
sionally caused sickness; to severe toothe-ache, fur which
she smoked tobacco from a pipe; and to an affection of the
throat, for which she was directed to take frequent draughts
of tincture of iodine in a wine-glass. of cold water, which
looked very like sherry and water. On the other hand, se-
veral servants, who had also lived with her uncles during her
residence there, deposed that she was frequently sick from
intoxication ; that she drank two. or three glasses of brandy
a 'day, which she directed them to procure, nut not to lether
uncles see anything of it ; that she was in the habit of smoking
cigars, and that she kept a bottle of spirits in her bed-room.
That part of the story which related to the brandy derived
some confirmation from the landlord of the King's Arms at
Stow, who supplied the family at Broadwell with a good deal
of brandy from 1837 to 1842, although the favourite beverage
of the plaintiff's uncles was gin.
Mr. Baron .PARKE, in summing up, told the jury that they
would have no difficulty in finding a verdict for the plaintiff
upon the first issue. There could be no doubt that the de-
fendant had promised to marry her, but the main question
in the cause was, whether the second plea of the defendant
had been made out to their satisfaction. • If they thought it
proved that the plaintiff had been guilty of the intemperate
habits ascribed to her by the defendant's witnesses, and that
the defendant had broken off the match, not upon the autho-
rity of an anonymous letter, but upon obtaining sufficient
evidence of the fact of the plaintiff's intemperance, the ver-
dict upon the second issue must be found for him. If, how-
ever, they were of opinion that the second point in that plea
was not made out, still, if they considered that the former
part of the plea was proved, that circumstance ought to in-
fluence them in considering tfie damages which ought to be
given ; because, a woman who could so far forget herself was
not entitled to ask for heavy damages.
The jury consulted for some time, and then found a ver-
dict for the plaintiff—Damages, 200/.

THE LATE
MURDER AT MARYLE-
BON..
E._coßoNEß's INQUEST.
Mr. Wakley, M.P. the Coroner for Middlesex, having ap-
pointed the inquest on the body of the female murdered on
Saturday by her husband, to be held yesterday morning at
nine o'clock, at the Three Compasses,:Little Marylebone•
street, a great crowd of persons assembled from an early hour
in front of the premises, anxious to have a look at the mur-
derer, as it was well known that the Coroner had determined
on his being present during the proceedings. This morning,
shortly before ten, at which time, for the better convenience
of jurors, the inquest had been ultimately fixed, the
wretched prisoner
was conve •yed in a cab, in the custody of
Inspector l'edman of the D division, and accompanied by Mr.
Joseph, surgeon, of Great Marylebone-street, from the St.
Marylebone Infirmary to the place appointed for the holding
of the inquest.
lithewaasPP:h raliccoens iodef rathil prisoner
difficulty
wasthatt a
he
signal for a yell of the most frightful character from the as-
sembled mob, and
posse of police was enabled to protect him.
Mr. Wakley
M.P.,
and Mr. J. G. Mills, his deputy, hav-
ing arrived, the jurors were sworn in, . and the first witness
called was
Mary 'Lynes—l am a married woman, residing at No. 4,
Little Marylebone-street, where the body of the deceased at
present lies. On Saturday evening last, a few minutes
before seven o'clock; I was scrubbing down the stairs, when
William Crouch, the deceased's husband, came up, and said
to me, " Is my mis Bus up stairs?" I said that she was. He
then went up into my room, on the first attic, where she was
nursing-her baby, and singing to it. The instant he went in she
ceased singing. I was at the time only some three or four steps
from the stair, and I heard my little girl, who was also in the
room, scream out, e Oh, mother, mother, he has cut her
neck." I ran up stairs, and saw Crouch standing at the door
wiping a razor with a bit of rag. When I got inside the
room I found Mrs. Crouch sitting on a stool, with her head
leaning against the side of my.door, and her throat cut. I
said to Crouch, •
' -- ob-, you villain, get out of the room ;" to
which he replied, " If one man is not sufficient for her twenty
is not." Deceased never moved nor spoke after. I ran down
stairs and called Mrs. Mayhew, another lodger, and at the
same, time Crouch passed me and ran out. I rushed down
stairs after him, and found that he had reached the corner of
Chesterfield-street. Mr. Davies, my landlord, followed him,
and caught him in that street. On his being given into cus-
tody he was brought back to my room. He then asked, "Is
she dead ?" and I said, " Oh, you villain." I did not see the
razor then, and Crouch on being questioned said he had
thrown it away. Mr. Joseph, surgeon, was sent for, and the
prisoner was taken away.
By the CORONER—Scarcely a half minute elapsed between
the time when Crouch passed me on the stairs, and my child
screaming out.
_I saw him before on Saturday morning, and

lie asked if his wife
,was pp_stairs, when I told him no: He `i
was a sober man, and no words arose before he committed
the act. When he ran away after committing the murder, •
I saw him conceal the razor in his left waistcoat-pocket. He
lived at 7, Great Chesterfield-street, and, I believe, was at one
time agentleman's servant, but afterwards a potman. He
did not keep the last place long:
Sarah Simpson, the little.grrl alluded to by MrS. Lynes,
said - she wat seven years of age. About seven o'clock on
Saturday night she was with Mrs. Crouch, who was sitting
with her baby on her knee, when her husbsnd came into the
room. He stood by the side of her, and then took her by the
hair and cut her neck with a knife. She fell a the stool on
to the floor. They had not quarrelled before he cut herneck.
She was singing to her baby.at the time. After he had cut
her, he stood by the drawers, and when her (witness's)
mother came in he ran away.
Sergeant Bennett, 18 D, said that at a quarter after seven
o'clock on Saturday night he was in Great 3larylebone-
street, when he was called by a little boy, who said that he
was wanted in Little Marylebone-street, where a man had
cut his wife's throat. Went there and found a mob of people,
with the accused in the midst of them. Witness asked which
was the man, when some one there said, "That is him, don't
you see his hands covered with blood." Crouch said,
" Dont collar me ; go quiet." Took him to the house
where deceased lay, and in going along Crouch said, " There,
you see I've not hurt her." The floor was covered with
blood, and it was still pouring from the wound in her throat.
He said to the prisoner, " What have you done with the ra-
zor," when he replied, "I have thrown it away." He then
took prisoner down stairs, and met Mr. Joseph at the door.
In going to the station-house the prisoner said, "I don't care
anything about it ; she deserved it for leaving me. You may
hang me, and be d-d." And on going further he said,
" Oh, this cursed drink; she left me, and if she had not left
me I should not have done it." On searching him at the
station house, found a razor-case in his right coat pocket.
Found also Is. ?id. On taking off his handkerchief found
that he had cut his own throat also.

Robert Davies merely proved the prisoner's running away,
and his capturing him.
Mary Ann Smith, sister of deceased, had last seen her
alive on Tuesday, when she informed witness that she had
left her husband, but said nothing of his treatment of her.

Mr. E. Joseph, surgeon, of Great Marylebone-street, was
sent for to see deceased scion after seven on. Saturday night.
Found her in the front top attic of No. 4, Little Marylebone-
street. She lay on the floor in a pool of blood. Examined
the wound in her throat, which commenced about an inch
.anterior to the left jaw, severing the windpipe, and reaching
to the angle of the right jaw, in length about eight inches. It
had divided the muscles of the throat, the jugular vein, and
carotid artery on the right side. The entire structure of the
throat to the spinal process had been injured, and he should
suppose' that the throat had been drawn into a state of ten-
sion before the prisoner had inflicted the cut.
The prisoner, a thin and wretchedly. emaciated-looking
creature, was asked if he wished to say anything to the Court,
when he stammered out, " The cause was "—he then hesi-
tated, and appeared almost fainting. At last the words could
be indistinctly heard, Oh, I cannot ; don't ask me. Take
me away, take me away." The wretched creature was then
removed.

Mr. WARLEY briefly addressed the jury, and said that
from the very clear evidence adduced, and the admission of
the prisoner himself, he thought there could be no reasonable
cause for hesitation in delivering their verdict. He would, if
they wished it, repeat the nature of the witnesses' statements.
The jury replied that it was altogether unnecessary, and
at once returned a verdict of " 'Wilful murder."

The pri:oner was then taken to Marylebone Police-court,
where the same evidence was gone into.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.
(YESTERDAY.)
MANSION-HOUSE.
Mr. William .Read, the owner of the brig Colina, and
Captain Simpson, the master of that vessel, were
brought up before the Lord Mayor and Sir John Pirie,
Bart., for re-examination upon a charge of having con-
spired together to sink the said brig, for the purpose of
defrauding the Alliance Marine Insurance Company,
with whom the vessel was insured. Several gentlemen
connected with the shipping interest in the City were in
attendance in the Justice-room, to listen to the pro-
ceed ings.
Mr. Clarkson and Mr. Bodkin appeared as caunsel for
the prosecution. The prisoner Read was represented
by Mr. Wontner.
Mr. Clarkson, addressing the Lord Mayor, said he
had to inform his Lordship that, since the prisoners had
been before him, the master of the brig Colina—the pri-
soner Simpson—had made a statement in reference to
the loss of the vessel in question. The statement was a
general one, which he (Mr. Clarkson) was not then in a
condition to lay before his Lordship. It was enough for
him to say that it materially affected the prisoner Read.
The statement went the length of showing that the loss
of the brig was wilful—that it was after some delibera-
tion, and by arrangement, she was lost—and that the
circumstance took place at the instigation of the prisoner
Read. On the previous examination, Mr. Wontner ex-
pressed his determination to apply to the Judges, in order
that the prisoner Read might be allowed to find
bail. If it was still Mr. Wontner's resolution to do so.
he (Mr. Clarkson) would feel it to be his duty to submit
the statement, to which he had referred, before the Lord
Mayor at the earliest possible moment. If, after Mr.
Wontner saw the nature of the statement in question,
he should feel it to be his duty to make an application to
the Judges, he, of course, might do so. He now begged
his Lordship would remand the prisoner to such a day as
would enable him to complete the case, so as that the
prisoners might be committed for trial at the Central
Criminal Court at the ensuing sessions.
Mr. Wontner expressed a hope that the remand would
be to an early day, as it might be necessary, after hear-
ing what the nature of the statement referred to was, to
make inquiries respecting it.
After a short conversation, the prisoners were ordered
to be remanded till three o'clock on Saturday next.
The depositions taken on the last day of the examine•
tion were then read over by Mr. Goodman, and the wit-
nesses bound over to prosecute.
One of the witnesses, George Gardner, clerk to Read
and Page, of Ipswich, said that the gentleman who came
into his employers' counting-house, with a newspaper
containing the loss of the brig, was Mr. Taylor, ship-
owner, of Ipswich.
Mr. Wm. Henry Moss, a clerk in the Ship Registry-
office of the Custom-house. produced an office copy of
the registry of the brig Colina, dated sth January,
1841, showing the ownership of the vessel to be in the
prisoner Read and his partner.
The prisoners were then remanded till Saturday.
TREATMENT OF MR. BARNARD GREGORY IN NEW.
GATE.—Mr. Wells, the barrister, appeared before the
L,,rd Mayor, for the purpose of calling his Lordship's
attention to the case of Mr. Barnard Gregory, and the
treatment which it was alleged that individual was suf-
fering from in the gaol of Newgate. He knew nothing
whatever of Mr. Gregory personally, and he was only
induced to come forward respecting him, in consequence
of the statement which had appeared in some of the
public journals, as to the conduct which had been
pursued towards him, in the gaol in question. If
the statement put forth in the journals referred to
was a true one, he must say, that the treatment from
which Mr. Gregory was suffering was more cruel than
any he had ever read of, in connexion with the Bastile,
the enormities of Robespierre, or even the Government
of Algiers. The Learned Gentleman then read the
statements in question, from which it appeared
that Mr. Barnard Gregory was compelled to associate
with felons ; that he was denied the use of pens, ink,
and paper, or even of a. black-lead pencil ; that
he was not allowed any books to read ; that
he was not permitted to have candles, and was conse-
quently in darkness for fifteen hours out of the twenty-
four ; that he was obliged to sleep on an iron bedstead,
with rope mattress and rug covering ; that he was only
allowed the prism diet ; that he could only see his
friends under the order of a magistrate ; and that al-
though a certificate signed by two physicians and four
practical surgeons, had been transmitted to the Secre-
tary of State for the Home Department, showing that
Mr. Barnard Gregory had since his imprisonment burst
a blood-vessel, and that if the present treatment was
continued the result would be the death of Mr. Gregory;
yet, up to that time, no notice had been taken of the re-
presentation by the Home Secretary, and the prisoner
was still treated in the same manner and subjected to
the same hardships and privations as heretofore.
The LORD MAYOR said that the case of Mr. Gregor),
had already been under the consideration of the Magis-
trates of the City of London, and the attention of the
Home Secretary had been called to it.
Mr. Wells said that -his Lordship must no doubt be
aware that the prison discipline did not apply to persons
incarcerated in the gaol of Newgate on account of libels,
and added that he was determined not to allow the matter
to sleep. Lie would either apply for a habeas corpus on
the first day of term, or call a public meeting to address
the Queen, who, he was sure, could not be aware that
one of her subjects was treated so unjustly.
The LORD MAYOR said he would take care the matter
should be inquired to.
MARYLEBONE.
William Crouch, the man charged with the murder of
his wife, and against whom a verdict of wilful murder
had been given by the Coroner's jury, was brought
before Mr. Rawlinson for further examination. On
being placed at the bar, he appeared in a very weak
state, and was accommodated with a chair; He shed
tears, and looked much paler than when before the
Coroner.
The same witnesses having been examined before Mr.
Rawlinson as gave testimony at the inquest,
Elizabeth Haines, whose evidence wits additional, was
called, and stated that she was the wife of Samuel
Haines, and lived at 7, Great Chesterfield-street. The
prisoner and the deceased had lodged at her house. On
Saturday he went out to look for work. On his return
he was accompanied by a man; she spoke to him, and he
went out again. He returned a second time in about an
hour and a half, and appeared in liquor. She told
him that he was so, but he denied it. He talked
of, taking a room, which she told him she thought
was let, and said that he was better as he was, as his
wife had left him. He then sat down, and said, "If it
must be done, it must be done." She gave him some
clothes, and he said, " I shall never want these ; I shall
never wear them." He then opened the bundle, took
out a shirt, and said, " Here's a shirt to wear ! it has
lain in the box six weeks, and she was too lazy to mend
it or sew the buttons on." He afterwards said, " Why,
the b— h—, could not she mend my stockings ?" He
went into another room locked his box, and put the key
into his pocket. He shortly afterwards went away
without saying anything. On a previous occasion, about
a fortnight ago, the very night she had left him, he said
he would lie in wait for her, and give her a good hiding;
and if he had had her there then, he would cut her
throat with a razor.
The Magistrate having asked the prisoner if he had
anything to say, the wretched man merely replied, the
mother and sister of his wife had persuaded her to leave
him, and that had undone him. He had been out on
Saturday drinking, and took more than he could manage.
The thoughts of her leaving him•had so wrought upon
his mind that it was more than he could bear. He had
wished to cut his own throat, but the handkerchief pre-
vented it.
Mr. RAWLINSON—Have you any more to say? Pri-
soner—Nothing more.
Mr. RAWLINSUN—Then you are committed to New-
gate, to take your trial.

`An crowd around the Court was very great, and it
was with difficulty that the mob could be prevented from
laying violent hands on the priznter, both on his being
taken to and removed from the Court.

CLERKENWELL.
Henry Williams was charged with obtaining money
on false pretences from several housekeepers.
The fint case against the prisoner was that of a poor
woman named Hayes, who keeps a little shop in Peter-
street, Clerkenwell. whose son is a seaman, and went
out to China in the Castor at the commencement of the
war with that empire. The prisoner told the mother
that he had been serving oh board the same ship with
her son, and mentioned the name of the vessel. He
added that he had parted with Hayes about two months
previously at Rio Janeiro, and' that Hayes had given
him a parcel for his mother, containing two damask
shawls and a letter. He had taken the greatest care of
the parcel, and having been steward on board the
Amelia, which arrived in Liverpool on the 16th March
last, .he thought there would have
_been nothing to prevent
his removal of it. The vessel had, however, no sooner
anchored in the dock than the Custom-house officers
boarded her, seizing the parcel, and refused to give it
unless 14s. 6d., Custom-house fees were paid upon it.
The poor woman, upon his promising to send up the
parcel by railway on the following Wednesday, gave
him the money, which she made up with difficulty. No
parcel arrived, and the whole story turned out to be
fabulous.

The second case was that of Mr. James Alexander
Mathews, a glass merchant, residing in the Dover-road.
To him the prisoner stated that his name was James
Edwards, and that he was second steward on board the
Amelia, which had arrived from the West Indies on the
previous Monday, the sth of last February. He asked
Mr. Mathews if he had not a son in the colonies, and on
his replyingin the affirmative, told nearly the same tale as
in the former case, stating that the parcel contained silk
handkerchiefs, a writing desk, and parcels of cigars. He
was sorry to inform Mr. Mathews that the cholera was
then raging with great violence in the district in which
his son resided. The parcel was detained for IBs. 6d.,
Custom-house fees. This sum he obtained on the same
promise as in Mrs. Hayes' case. They never heard more
of him until his arrest. Mr. Mathews wrote to Liver-
pool, and was informed by one of the officers of the
docks, that there was no such vessel there as the
Amelia, and he (the officer) regretted to say, that Mr.
Mathews was only one of a large number of London
housekeepers who bad been made the dupe of som..
swindler, as he had received a large number of commu-
nications to the same effect.

Mrs. Elizabeth Brown, No. 2, Cockpit court, Poppin's-
court, Fleet-street, deposed, that on the 22(1 of Decem-
ber the prisoner came to her, and asked her if she had
not a son in the West Indie. She replied in the affir-
mative, and he made the same representation to her as
in the former case regarding the parcel, and obtained
9s. 6d. from her ; but the most cruel part of his con-
duct was telling the poor oki woman that he had left her
son dangerously ill of the yellow fever, which grieved
her exceedingly. He told Mrs. Brown his name was
John Phillips.
Two other elderly women, named Rainsforth and
Burgess, residing in the Borough-road—the one having a
son in Sydney, and the other in New Zealand—deposed
that they had been defrauded of small sums ofponey by
like representations.
The Court was crowdel with the victims of the pri-
soner's artifice—they were mostly old women.
Police-constable 136 G, who arrested the prisoner, de-
posed that he could complete thirty cases of the same
description against the prisoner. Housekeepers of every
condition, and residing in different parts of London and
its vicinity, had been defrauded by him.
Mr. COMBS said he would commit him for trial, and
depositions in the above-mentioned three cases were taken
down.

Thomas Foley was charged with threatening to murder his
wife, and with having violently assaulted her and also police
constable 124 E.

It appeared from his evidence, that on Saturday night last
the constable was on duty in Brunswick-square, when he heard
cries of" Murder" proceed from a house in Marchmont-place ;
he hastened thither, and; on ascending the staircase, saw the
prisoner standing over his wife, and beating her in the most
brutal manner. The constable rushed in, but had scarcely
entered the room, when the prisoner pushed him out again,
and, striking him a violent blow on the breast, knocked the
officer against the bannisteit The bannisters gave way, and
the unfortunate constable was precipitated down to the next
landing, and his hand coming under him, was severely
sprained. An outcry was raised, and the police and civilians
rushed in and secured the wife and officer from further vio-
lence.

Waddington said the prisoner was one of the worst cha-
racters in that neighbourhood; he had been frequently con-
victed of assaults on the police.
Sergeant Lester, 10 E, said the prisoner's wife refused to
prosecute, fearing his violence when he came out of prison.
The prisoner denied the assault, and said he had several
witnesses to disprove it, but when called upon to produce
them not one came forward.
Mr. COMBE sent him to the House of Correction for a
month, without fine.