The Sun.
London, England, 1845-11-13 00:00:00

were sworn to as having pawned various articles of property
belonging to Mr. Shaw. The property produced, and which
had been pawned at th9„s_pop of Mr. Turner aia.4 ilentifigd
bit Mr. ghtlw ligss Chlctatt. Some idol ITV Tormea-
-4 the extent to whic.,ll:the.w.hole.saleAystem _of plunder-and
pawning had been carrieil.from the fact that from the 13th of
April, 1844, to the 18th of October, 1845, no less a sum
than 528/. had been obtained at the shop'of.Mr. Turner.upon
pledges above 10s., and nearly 501. upon pledges varying
from ss. to 10s. Mr. Turners's account of the transaction
was, that when the prisoner Mary Cummings first came to
pledge a silver spoon she represented that the property be-
longed to her uncle, a Mr. Back, residing at No. 11, on the
Terrace, Walworth-road (not one hundred yards off). They
believed, they said, her representation, and though property
of the most massive description, sometimes to the amount of
201. a day, and upwards had been pledged, and the principal
part of it bore initials, arms, and crests, none of which were
suited to the name of "Back," they never took the slightest
trouble to inquire who really resided at NcL 11 on the Ter-
race, nor to find out who the realowner of the property was ;
nor had they even put a single address to a single duplicate
produced, though the latter omission renders Mr. Turner
liable to enormous penalties. .
In the course of the proceedings Mr. Parry remarked, that
from the representation of the prisoner Mary Cummings,
when she first pledged the plate, that it belonged to her uncle,-
an impression had gone abroad that Mr. Shaw actually stood
in that degree of relationship to her and her family. This
he (Mr. Parry) begged most unequivocally to deny. Mr.
Shaw was no relative whatever to the prisoners. Ile had
become their kind benefactor in distress, and the return they
had made was that which his Worship saw.
_ _

The two Cummingses, and Langley, were fully committed
for trial; and the others remanded to a future day.

SOUTHWARK.
John Johnson, a well-dressed man, between 30 and 40
years of age, was brought up before Mr. Cottingham,
charged with being concerned with others (not in custody)
ikstealing a cash-box containing sixty sovereigns and some
important documents, the property of Mr. William Skelton,
the landlord of the Fleece public-house, in George-street,
Bermondsey.
The complainant stated, that on the preceding day, about
half-past three o'clock, a respectable-looking well-dressed man,
accompanied by a woman, entered his house, and went into
the parlour. They, however, had not been many minutes
there when the man came out again, and addressing complain-
ant, who was serving at the bar at the time, said that he
wanted to write a letter of importance, that the parlour had
company in it, and he therefore requested that he and the
lady might be permitted to occupy the bar-parlour for the
purpose. Complainant, from the apparent respectability of
the parties, at once acceded to the request, and the man and
woman accordingly entered the room, drew their chairs to
the table, and called for pen, ink, and paper. The writing
material having been placed on the table, the landlord de-
sired his niece, a young girl of 14, to remain in the apart-
ment with them while he was engaged at the bar, and the
man immediately commenced writing to the woman's
dictation, and both appeared to be wholly absorbed in the
business. Soon afterwards, however, the parlour bell rang ;
and as the waiter was out the complainant's niece left the
bar-parlour to attend to the bell, and during her absence,
which was very short, both the man and woman went out of
the house, the former going first and the latter immediately
afterwards. The complainant, surprised at the circumstance
of the strangers going away in such a hasty manner without
saying a word, left the bar at which he was serving, and rushing
into the bar-parlour, immediately went to the table-drawer,
where he kept his cash-box, and, to his utter dismay, found. it
was gone, with its contents, consisting of 60 0r62 sovereigns,
his license, together with the magistrates's certificate, and
other documents. Upon the discovery of the robbery he
gave the alarm, but before he got to the street-door both the
man and woman were out of sight. He added that two
strange men were standing at the bar, and that the prisoner
and another stranger were in the parlour, and that the mo-
ment they heard the . alarm of the cashbox having been

stolen, they all left the house. The prisoner, however, was
followed, brought back, and given into custody. The land-
lord further said that he had no doubt the whole of the
parties mentioned were acting in collusion, and that they
formed part of a gang of well-dressed thieves, who made a
point of entering the houses of licensed victuallers, and rob-
bing them under circumstances similar to those in which his
bar-parlour had been plundered of the cash-box containing
the money and documents.

In reg.), to Mr. CorrorGuAm, the complainant said, the
prisoner- entered the house soon after the man and woman
above described had taken their seats in the bar-parlour, but
he assumed to be a total stranger to either of them, and
walked into the public room, and called for spirits and water
and a cheroot.

Mr. Edward Neighbour was then examined, and he stated
that he lived in Heath-street, Hampstead, and that on the
preceding day he called to see the landlord of the Fleece, and
had not been long in the parlour before the prisoner and an
elderly well-dressed man entered within a few minutes of each
other. They, however, did not recognise each other, and the
elderly man had not been many moments in the room, when
he commenced a conversation with witness on the subject of
the probability of the opening of the ports for the admission
of corn. While they were talking on the subject, the pri-
soner very rudely interrupted the conversation, and when
witness expostulated with him for such behaviour, the elderly
man said, " Don't take notice of the ill manners of a young
fellow like him ; he is some young fellow with more money
than brains, or he would not have intruded his conversation.
particularly on a subject that he knows nothing about."
During the disputation on the subject, the alarm given
by the landlord that his cash-box was stolen was heard,
and at the same moment the prisoner and the elderly
man hastened out of the room, and without waiting to
make any inquiry at the bar about the loss of the money,
they both quitted the house, Witness, the moment he
heard of the robbery, concluded that both the prisoner and
the elderly man were the associates of the two persons who
had been in the bar-parlour, and under that conviction he
immediately pursued the prisoner, and stopped him at the
top of the street. When he was brought back to the house
the prisoner was questioned as to who and what he was, and
his reply was, that he was in the navy, that lie had just re-
ceived a sum of money at the Admiralty, and he expressed
the strongest indignation that he should have been suspected
of any concern with the robbery that had just been com-
mitted. He however hesitated to give his address, saying
that he lived at one of the squares at the west end of the
town, and when requested to show his card he at length pro-
duced one with the name "J. Johnson, Bloomsbury-square,"
written upon it, and said that was where he lived. When
the policeman made his appearance the prisoner tried to
tear the card out of witness's hand, but he failed in the
attempt; and as he gave such a verrunsatisfactory account
of himself, he was then handed over to the custody of the
policeman.
Mr. CormanAm said that robberies of a very serious de-
scription had taken place at differentpublic-houses in the

metropolis, and that they were generally committed in such
a very dexterous manner as to leave no doubt that a regularly
organised gang went about for that purpose ; that in the pre-
sent instance the complainant had boon plundered to a very
serious amount, and that although there was at present only
suspicion against the accused, and as it was intended that a
further inquiry should take place, he (the Magistrate), there-
fore, under the circumstances, thought it most advisable at
the present stage of the examination that the prisoner should
reserve what he had to say until then. He, however, would
use his own discretion on that point.
The prisoner said lie had nothing to conceal; that he went
into the Fleece, had a glass of ale and a cheroot in the par-
lour, and that while there he heard an alarm that the cash-
box was stolen, and he left the room and went to the bar, and
had a glass of ale while standing there, and afterwards left
the house, when he was followed and so unceremoniously
brought back and questioned as if he were the thief. He
added that none of the people in the house were his acquain-
tances, and that be merely went in there as he might to any
other public-house of a similar description.
The complainant was recalled; and he stated that the pri-
soner had asserted a falsehood in saying that he had a glass
of ale at the bar after the robbery, when, the fact was, he left
the house the moment the alarm of the cash-box being stolen
was given.
Mr. CorrtxmrAlit asked the prisoner if his real address
was Bloomsbury• square; and, if it was, at what number did
he live in that place? The prisoner said, that at present he
wished to decline answering the question, and expressed a
hope the Magistrate would accept of bail for his appearance.
Mr. COrrINGTIAM, however, refused to accept of sureties
under the circumstances, and remanded the prisoner to give
an opportunity of some of his associates being taken into
custody. It was stated the prisoner had been in custody
before, and that he belonged to the swell mob.

THE DIAMOND STEAM-PACKET COMPANY..--.The
annual meeting of the Proprietors in this Company was held
on Monday, in the large room of the New Inn, Gravesend;
Dr. Warren in the chair.: It appeared that the receipts of
the year amounted in round numbers to 27,0001., and the
expenditure to 23,0001., leaving a balance of 4,000/., from out
of which a dividend of 5 per cent. was declared. The Chair-
man stated that after a year of extraordinary competition
and low fares, the Company was in a position much more
favourable than it had, in the opening of the season, any
hope of attaining.
DISSOLUTION OF THE SONS OF THE THAMES STEAM-
BOAT COMPANY.—Yesterday the annual general meeting of
the shareholders of the Sons of the Thames Steam-boat Com-
pany took place at the Company's office, 12, Mark-lane. Mr.
Warren, having been called to the chair, read the report,
from which it appeared that the Company's boats had con-
veyed 178,939 passengers, amounting to 6,4014 being a fall-
ing off of 968/. from the previous year. It then proceeded to
state that they had paid 2,000/. for a new boiler; that a re-
cent accident had cost them 400/. ; that there was a bill to
Messrs. Miller and Co. for 622/., which they could not meet;
their liabilities amounting in all to 6,0001. The report sug-
gested the selling of the boats, and winding up the affairs of
the Company. The report having been received, Messrs.
Angus and Wilson were appointed directors for the ensuing
year. After a desultory conversation, it was ultimately pro
posed by Sir. Hewer, and seconded by Mr. Manning, "That
it is the opinion of this meeting, that the best means of extri-
cating the Company from its present pecuniary embarrass-
ment would be to sell the boats and dissolve the Company;
and that, ccnsistent with the provisions of the deed of settle-
ment, a meeting be forthwith called." The resolution was
carried unanimously.

PARINGDON.—RAILWAY MEETING.--A large
meeting was held at the Crown Inn, on Tuesday, in pursuance
of a notice that a deputation from the Committee of the
Cheltenham, Oxford, and London Junction Railway Com-
pany, would attend to explain their intentions and the ob-
jects to be gained by such railway. Sir Robert Throgmorton
took the chair. The projected line, and its probable advan-
tages to the district, were explained by Mr. Westmacott, of
London, after which the Rev. Mr. Evanson, of Inglesham,
and Dr. Mantell proposed and seconded a resolution expres-
sive of the opinion of the meeting in favour of the line, and
Raymond Barker, Esq., of Fairford, and H. St. John Medley,
Esq., proposed and seconded a resolution to petition Parlia-
ment on the subject, and a requisition to the county Members
to support the same. P. Pusey, Esq , M.P., expressed his
readiness and pleasure to dEi so; after which Mr. Barker
offered to the meeting a resolution in favour of an extersioa
line to Cirencester and Stroud, which Mr. Smith, of South-
ross, having seconded, the meeting affirmed.— Wilts Incic-
pendent.

A LONG LOST RAPHIEL.—The Academie des
Beaux Arts, at its last sitting, had an interesting piece of
intelligence communicated to it by M. R. Rochette, its per-
petual secretary, and received by him from M. Jesi, the cele-
brated engraver. It was that an immense fresco, by Raphael,
in admirable preservation, has been discovered at Florence,
in the refectory of a convent, suppressed at the close of the
last century. This work, which represents the t, Last Sup-
per," was generally attributed to Perrugino, but, on its being
lately cleaned, Raphael's name was found on the robe of one
of the apostles, with the date of 1514, when the great painter
was in the 21st year of his age. This is the period of his life
of which Vasari and other writers on art seem to know least,
and this discovery fills up the chasm which has hitherto been
felt in Raphael's career.—Galignuni.
THE HERRING FlSHERY.—Providence is still
blessing this part of the western coast with unexampled suc-
cess in the herring fishery. On Thursday night the
largest take yet had was made near Mutton Island, within a
mile of the harbour, and the joy of the poor fishermen is ex.
ovule. We know not if other portions of the coast have
been equally favoured ; but the finest field is open at present
for the purchase of herrings in the market.—Galway Via.
dicator.