The Sun.
London, England, 1844-04-08 00:00:00

evidence' against his employer,' neither counsel nor
solicitor attended for that prisoner.
Mr. Clarkson, in addressing the Lord Mayor and
Alderman Pirie upon the subject, said that the pri-
soner, Captain Simpson, had voluntarily made a
statement relative to the charge in which he and Read
were involved, and that Mr. Wontner, the solicitor
for Read, should be furnished with a copy of that
statement as speedily as possible, in order that imme-
diate preparation might be made for the trial, which
would in all probability take place in the ensuing
week. .It was not the intention of the Counsel for
the prosecution to read that statement to the justice-
room but he thought it necessary to intimate that it
was their intention to produce it on the trial, and to
accept the offer of Captain Simpson to turn Queen's
evidence. Under existing circumstances, the prose-
cutors applied to the Magistrates to commit the two
prisoners' to Newgate for trial. The necessary course
would be subsequently adopted to take the deposition
of Simpson, and Mr. Wontner should be furnished
with copies of the whole of the evidence without delay.
Mr. Wontner did not object to the proposition of
Mr. Clarkson ; and the prisoners were both committed,
Simpson for having feloniously sunk the ship Colina,
and Read for having aided and abetted in sinking her.
The statement of Simpson comprehends the whole
of the statements made by the clerk of Read and
Page, as to the conversation which was represented to
have taken place at Ipswich on the subject of the
wilful loss of the Colina between the prisoners, and
the details of the plan of scuttling the vessel. The
-captain declares that according to the suggestions of
Read; who first proposed the projeot of doing the In-
surance Company by dropping the vessel, he took the
opportunity wholly unknown to the mate and the rest
of the crew, to go below with an augur and bore two
holes in the Colina's bottom. He also confirmed the
account given by the several boatmen who went to-
wards the Colina for the purpose of saving her from
the destruction which threatened.
It has been stated that there are several other
cases in which it is believed Read was a participator
in the profits of dropping vessels, but it did not
transpire whether any of those cases were to be
prosecuted. Mr. Page has been, all are assured,
altogether ignorant of any transactions of the kind.
The mate of a vessel, called the Diana, who appeared
on Friday, the 29th of last month, in pursuance of
his recognizances by bail,'to answer the complaint of
Mrs. May, the widow of the deceased captain of that
vessel, again appeared, the further hearing of the case
having been adjourned to ttiis dal.
Mr. Bozon, the solicitor of Mrs. May, stated that,
since the last hearing of the case, he had. obtained
further evidence, which would tend to add to the
suspicion entertained that the ship had been wilfully
set fire to at St. Helena; and he could prove, by the
testimony of a respectable witness, that, in addition
to the property taken possession of belonging to the
late Captain May, the defendant possessed himself of
a gold watch, guard, and chain, which the de-
fendant denied, upon a former occasion before the
Lord Mayor, the captain ever had. Mr. Bozon
further stated that the evidence which he considered
most material would, in his opinion, clearly show
that the defendant_ had acted most fraudulently to-
wards the widow, and that the case was one which
his Lordship was bound to send for trial to the
Central Criminal Court, as the whole of the cir-
cumstances were most mysterious, and required close
investigation.
Thomas Fitch, upon being called by Mr. Bozon,
stated that he lived at Deal, and had been a seafaring
man for 27 years. He was a passenger in the Diana
in March last, and recollected the circumstance of the
captain having been found shot in his cabin on the
evening of the 15th of that month. The captain was
buried at sea the following day. Before he was
dropped into the waves, and on the evening he was
found lying dead, witness requested the Tate to square
the yards and run down to some vessels which were
then close in sight, to have a doctor to see if anything
could be done for the captain, which the mate refused.
He also requested him to take the ship to the Island
of Ascension, but to that proposition he would not
agree, although within sight of the island, and that he
insisted upon going back to St. Helena. There was
plenty of provisions on board, and the vessel
was quite seaworthy for the voyage 'to England.
Witness well recollected the late captain leaving a
watch, which he believed to be gold, and a guard chain,
which the mate took pbssession of, and that after* the
captain's death, and the blowing up of the ship at
St. Helena, by which the steward lost his life, he
saw the chain in the defendant's possession. The
steward, Cox, who was killed by the explosion of the
vessel, kept a journal of everything that transpired on
board, and the defendant, after that catastrophe, broke
open the steward's chest and took the papers from it.
Witness further stated the manner in which the
Diana was blown up.at St. Helena, and declared it
to be his unshaken opinion that the vessel had been
set fire to. _ _ _

The LOUD MAYOR, after having consulted with
Mr. Goodman, the chief clerk, said the case was
rendered an exceedingly suspicious one, and that foul
play had, no doubt, been perpetrated. He did not,
however, consider that there was sufficient evidence
to justify him in sending the case to a jury. It was
certainly a case which Mr. Bozon was justified in
bringing forward, but lie should be 'satisfied with the
promise of the defendant to appear, if his presence
should be required, upon a future occasion.
The defendant declared that there was no ground
for the charge ; that he had acted with firmness and
judgment, and reliance upon the skill of older persons
throughout; that the watch-chain was his own, arid
that he was not aware of any unfair play at all in any
of the transactions.
Thus the case has concluded for the present.
Two very dirty-looking vagabonds were charged
pockets.
with having picked Upon one of them, a
most filthy red-headed fellow, a highly scented silk
handkerchief was found.
The LORD MAYOR—How did 3rou get this hand-
kerchief? Prisoner—I have had it these three
months.
The LORD MAYOR—nut how did it become so
my hat, to be sure.—(Laughter.)
easy enough.
,WanhaV, I keeps my
I muchw
as
yc es nwt eeda
r? •
spent PrisPris o n
;nr —mHyo
hwa
i?r
handkerchief in
—Committed for three months to Bridewell.
GpIL MULL.

Thomas Howell, jtimes Mahon, and John Skinner,
ev, charged with
appearance of mechanics,
l‘,pi eight pairs of coach
traces, pincers.
threeer young
e brought men,
be hfoarvemg the
Sir
John Kbreaking into the harness-maker's room at the Oxford
Inn, IV
a k
a rwn ii cfek:
andlane ,t andwo pair stealing
.
The prisoners were remanded.
BOW-STREET.

John
pearance,wearing mustachios, and who was stated to
have been formerly an officer in the Cape of Good
Hope Rifles, and Mail Ann Browne, a young woman,
very fashionably attired, and who was stated to be the
daughter of a clergyman, were brought up in the
custody of Inspector Pearce, of the A division of po-
lice, charged with having feloniously uttered a forged
cheque for 190/., purporting to be signed by. the
Dowager Lady Nelthorpe, with intent to defraud
Messrs. Smith, Payne, amt Co., the bankers, in Lom-
bard-street.
Mr. Bush, of the Society for the Protection of
Bankers from Forgery, attended on the part of the
prosecution ; and Mr. AI. Chambers, the barrister, at-
tended as counsel for the prisoners. •
Thomas Evison stated that he was a cashier in the
house or Messrs. Smith, Payne; and Co. He recol-
lected that the cheque produced was presented there
for payment on the 9th of January last, but he could
not remember by whom. The. Dowager Lady Nel-
thorpe - kept an account with, Messrs. Payne, Smith,
and Co., and the 'cheque purported to be signed by
her. Witness could not tell by whom it was pre-
sented, but on a reference to the books he found that
it had been paid in Bink-nates.
The Dowager Lady Nelthorpe stated that she re,
sided at River-hill, near Sevenoaks, in Kent, and had
also a town residence in King-street, St. James's.
She kept an account with Messrs. Smith, Payne, and
Co., the bankers. The cheque produced was not
signed by her, neither had she authorised any person
to draw or sign it. She knew the female prisoner,
who was introduced to her in the month of October,
1842, and she remained at the house of witness until
the month of December following. During her stay
there she had freqUent opportunities of seeing witness
write, and had no doubt also seen her sign cheques.
She represented herself to witness as friendless, hope-
less, and in absolute want of clothes.

Elizabeth Mason, of Ranelagh-grove, Pimlico,
stated that the two prisoners formerly occupied apart-
ments in her house for about five months, at a rent of
15s. a week. They lived together as man and wife,
and went by the name of Francis • they left the
apartments in February last. In the january previous
the female prisoner told the witness that she was going
to take some money out of the Bank of England, and
soon after that she paid the amount of rent due with
a 51. Bank of England note, which witness subse-
quently paid away to Mr. Cafe, the auctioneer, in
Great Marlborough-street. Witness believed the
body of the cheque produced to be in the handwriting
of the female prisoner.
Susan Luff, a milliner, in Regent-street, had seen
the female prisoner write, and also believed the body
of the cheque to be in her handwriting.
Inspector Pearce stated, that in consequence of in-
formation he had received, he went to Kingston on
Thursday last, and at ten o'clock at night succeeded
in apprehending the prisoners at the lodgings they
occupied there. The male prisoner at first said the
female was his wife, but afterwards admitted that she
was, not. The female declared her innocence, and
expressed great anxiety- to know what account her
companion had given of the transaction.
Sergeant Kendall, of the A division, stated that
after the male prisoner had been placed under his
charge by the last witness, he said that he knew the
cheque in question had been presented for payment at