The Sun.
London, England, 1828-12-06 00:00:00

BOW-STREET.

A tall military-looking gentleman, with a sallow
visage, and a Wellington nose, appeared last night
before Sir R. BIRNIE, his person enveloped in a
splendid cloak trimmed with fur, and advancing to
the bench with an air of mysterious importance, ad-
dressed the Magistrate in an audible whisper thus :
Stranger--I have to complain, Sir, of a gross out-
rage on my property and person.
Sir R. i3IuNIE immediately laid down his pen,
and told the gentleman to proceed with his com-
plaint, adding, that he should have every assistance
from him.
Stranger—l was walking peaceably along the
Strand, Sir, when I met with a woman. (Here
the gentleman came to a full stop.)
Sir R. &ERNIE (rather impatiently,)—Well, whar
then ? Stranger—l %vas taken to a house, Sir.
BIRNIE—Taken to a house? You mean
to say that you walked to a house of your own free
will. Full grown people usually do so
Stranger—l was deluded, Sir, to the place—that
is, your Worship, I was decoyed.
Sir R. BIRSIE—WeII ! suppose you were : what
happened then.? Stranger—l was abused and
robbed.

Sir H. ThitmE—lf you want my assistance, Sir,
to recover your money, you must be more explicit,
otherwise I must trouble you to apply elsewhere.
Who robbed you ? Stranger—l was knocked down
by three females, your Worship, one of whom was
the woman I met with in the Strand. They wanted
me to treat them.

Sir R. BIRNIE—I dare say they did. Go on.
Stranger-1 objected to do so.
Sir R. BIRNIE—Quite proper. What then ?
Stranger—They scratched my face.
Sir R. BiuNlE—The d—l they did! Stranger
—And tore my cloak.
Sir R. BlRNlE—lndeed ! Stranger--And called
me a bilk, and a blackguard.
Sir R. BIRNIE—WeII, well, let me know what
you've lost. You could not expect to hear the
language of polite society in a common brothel.
Pray come to the point, Sir; you say you have
been robbed. Stranger--I have, indeed, Sir.
Sir R. BIRNIE (with renewed impatience)--Sir,
you told me so already. I want to know the
amount of your loss, and whether the money was in
gold or bank-notes.

The stranger hesitated, and at length declared
that he lost but 4s.
" Pilo!" said the Chief Magistrate, " I really
thought, Sir, you had lost something considerable.
Why, 4s. between three women is only Is. and 4d.
.a-piece : scarcely worth your while to prosecute, Sir.
Besides, these unfortunate women always look for a
little money, when gentlemen of your appearance
condescend to keep them company."
" But, Sir, I was decoyed," said the stranger,
and shamefully abused, not to mention loss."
Sir R. BIRNIE, losing for a moment the better
part of his patience, exclaimed in no very courteous
accent, " What do you want me to do, Sr ?"
Stranger—l—have come to complain to you, Sir.
Sir R. BIRNIE—WeII, Sir, I have heard your
complaint, and I wish you a good night.
The stranger looked dubious for a moment,
glanced his eye at the chief magistrate and then at
the clerk, and drawing his cloak round him in a he-
sitating manner, repeated the MagistMte's " Good
night," and withdrew.
MARLBOROUGH-STREET.
Yesterday, a gentleman came to this office, and
addressing one of the Magistrates, stated, that he
was induced to come forward from having seen in
the Times newspaper of that morning, a report of a
case in which a charge of rape was preferred against
a gentleman, named Smith, residing in Easton-place,
New-road, by a female servant of his household, and
the commitment of Mr. Smith to take his trial for

the alleged offence. As the truth or falsehood of

the accusation made against Mr. Smith omit, the
gentleman said, in a great degree rest upon the cha-
racter of the parties upon whose testimony it is at-
tempted to be supported, he (the gentleman) felt it
his duty to come forward and state what he knew
of the females (for he had no doubt they were the
same) upon whose evidence Mr. Smith's life was
put to hazard, and he should not considn- himself
Justified in suffering a moment to escape without
publicly communicating for the ends of justice what
he was about to state, although he is a married man,
and the association of his name in such a manner
with females of such a description might not be very
creditable, or tend very much to increase his do-
mestic happiness hereafter; but all these risks he
would hazard for the cause of truth and justice.
The gentleman then went on to say, that about
a fortnlght ago, at a late hour of the evening,
he was passing in the neighbourhood of the
New-road, and met a young female, who ac-
costed him, and he walked and conversed with
her for some time. He - asked her where she
resided; and she told him sot very far off, and
she would give him an opportunity of seeing if he
would accompany her. lie did accordingly accom-

party her, and she conducted hint to the door of a
very handsome house, No. 15, Euston-place (the re-
sidence of Mr. Smith), where she knocked, and the
door was opened by a respectable •looking elderly
female, an Irishwoman. [Here the gentleman gave
a description, which exactly answered to that of Mrs.
Roebuck, Mr. Smith's housekeeper.] The young
female whom he accompanied to the house, then
invited him in, as did also the other female; but
seeing that the house must evidently not be the re-
sidence alone of such women as he had supposed
them to be, but must be the house of some gentle-
man, who was no doubt then from home, he declined
the invitation ; and although be was urged and
pressed very much to go up stairs by both women,
he refused, and did not proceed any farther
than the street-door passage, and got away from
their solicitations as soon as he could. He
observed also, he said, that both the females
were at the time in a state far from being
sober; and, on tie whole, he set them down in
his mind as a pair of very abandoned women.—
Since be had read the report in the Timcs, he went
to Euston-place, to satisfy himself that Mr. Smith's
was the same house to which he had been led by
the female, and he found it as he supposed it was.
The fact was, he had not seen either of the women
since, but he should know them any where again.
(The gentleman here gave a description of the girl
who led him to Mr. Smith's house, which answered
very closely to that of Jane Byrne, the prosecutrix
of Mr. Smith.) These facts the gentleman said he
was prepared at any time to • come forward and
declare on oath, however unpleasant it might be for
him to do so.

The MAGISTRATE asked the gentleman if he was
any friend or acquaintance of Mr. Smith ? The
gentleman replied, certainly not; he had never seen
or heard of Mr. Smith to his knowledge in his life
before he read the name that day in the Times news-
paper.

- The MAGISTRATE said, that the gentleman's state-
ment might be of great importance to Mr. Smith,
and a communication of it should be made to that
gentleman without delay.
The gentleman then left his name and address
with the Magistrate, and expressed again his readi-
ness to come forward at any moment his presence
might be required.
Plank, the chief officer, stated that a gentleman,
a friend of Mr. Smith's, called upon him at the
office the evening before, at rather a late hour, and
asked him to accompany him just then for a short
time, and that he (the gentleman) would at that mo-
ment point out the prosecutrix, Jane Byrne, walk-
ing the streets like any girl of the town. He (Plank)
however declined to interfere* in the mariner the
gentleman wished, but advised the gentleman him-
self, and some other friends of Mr. Smith, to mark
the circumstance, and note the girl's proceedings.
A young man named William Morris presented a
bundle of fine linen shirts which he had found on the
roof of the house in which he lodged, on looking
out at the window of his attic when he rose in the
morning. Not being able to discover any laundress
from whom the linen had been stolen, ho brought the
bundle to this office. Clements, the officer, who
was employed to investigate this matter, soon re-
turned with another young man named William
Clifford, whom he found asleep in a part of the
premises from which it was easy to communicate
with the place where the bundle had been deposited.
According to the statement of one of the officers,
he had been tried three times for felony.
The prisoner denied all knowledge of the shirts,
but he was remanded for a further investigation.
Plank examined all the shirts, which are of very
fine Irish linen, and some of them marked with the
name "J. Courtney, jun.," in full. Some others
are marked with the initials " H. M.," others " J.
M.," and others " L. M.;" and there ure two without
any mark, and most of the shirts are made to be worn
with false collars.

Plank decidedly ought 'to have gone out as desired.

LAW INTELLIGENCE.

VICE CHANCELLOR'S COURT, DEC.

JVI)GMENT.-NOBLE V. CASS.

This was a case in which certain property, part
of which consisted of a brew-house, had been left
to trustees for the benefit of Ann Noble, during her
life, with reversion to her children. The trustees
had recovered the brew-house from the tenant by an
action of ejectment, and in an action on covenant
they had recovered damages to the amount of .5001.
for dilapidations. The trustees had invested the
money, and paid the dividends to Ann Noble during
her life. Upon the death of Ann Noble, her children
called upon the trustees to transfer this sum ; but
they refused, and a bill was filed to compel the trans-
dismissed.

COURT OF KING'S BENCH, DEC. b.
(FORGE v. RADFORD.

This was an action for a malicious arrest.
Mr. BROUGHAM (with whom was Mr. Chitty)
stated the case for the p4aintiff. The plaintiff was
a coach-maker in London-wall. He had been un-
fortunate in business; and in 1826 a commission of
bankruptcy was issued against him; but he had ob-
tained his certificate, and was now carrying on his
business. In the course of 1826, being in pecuniary
difficulties, he applied for assistance to a person of
the name of Israel Alexander, who had before accom-
modated him with money ; and Alexander having
undertaken -to supply him with cash, he placed in
his (Alexander's) hands several blank acceptances,
to be made use of by Alexander on his procuring
the money. Shortly afterwards the plaintiff became
a bankrupt, and in the course of the following year
he obtained his certificate. On the 17th of January,
in the present year, a bill of exchange for .50/., pur-
porting to have been accepted by the plaintiff, was
presented to him for payment. The bill was dated
the 3d of December, 1827, and was payable to the
order of G. W. Russen six weeks after date. The
plaintiff not having accepted such a bill, and know-
ing nothing of Mr. Russen, was induced to think
that it was one of the blank acceptances which he
had given to Israel Alexander a year and a half be-
fore. Knowing that he had received no considera-
tion for it, he determined to resist its payment, and
finding that it was in the hands of the defendant,
he got his attorney to send his clerk to him to eau•
tion him against suing on the bill. The attorney's
clerk, on seeing the defendant, told him that the
plaintiff knew nothing about the bill, and that there
were circumstances which might bring into difficulty
the persons connected with it. The defendant then
informed the clerk that he had received the bill from
Mr. Russell, an attorney, in part payment of fees
for business, which he (the defendant) had done for
him as a Sheriff's officer; and added, that if the
bill was not paid, he should arrest Mr. George the
next day. On the following day he caused Mr.
George to be arrested on process from the Sheriff's
Court. In consequence of this proceeding Mr.
George was obliged to put in bail, and having.done
so he removed the cause into the Court of King's
Bench.
The principal filets stated above being substan-
tiated by the evidence, a long discussion arose upon
the question whether or not the plaintiff, George,
had been actually arrested. It appeared from the
statement of the officer that there had been no actual
caption, but that the plaintiff was informed that there
was a bailable writ against him, at the suit of the
defendant Radford, for 50/.; and that the officer
told the plaintiff, that as he knew him, he should not
think it necessary to place him under restraint, but
should take his word for his appearance and putting
in bail ; that the officer then received 2/. of the
plaintiff for the accommodation, and afterwards
called on the plaintiff's attorney to inform him what
he had done, and to request him to put in bail.
Sir J. SCARLETT, for the defendant, upon this
evidence, pressed for a nonsuit.
Lord TENTERDEN said the strong inclination of
his opinion was, that there had been no actual arrest.
He greatly disapproved of that mode of proceeding
which enabled sheriff's officers to obtain money in
order to forbear doing their duty,—it was, undoubt-

edly, a ►reans of extortion; and his Lordship was
strongly inclined to think that the plaintiff ought to
be nonsuited.

After a short discussion, in the course of Ivhich
Mr. Mougham submitted that there was evidence of
mai° enjoin to go to the Jury, the plaintiff was non-
suited ; Lord Tenterden expressing it as his opinion
that there was nothing to show that the arrest was
a malicious one.