The Sun.
London, England, 1845-03-28 00:00:00

munity, complained of the slight which would be thrown
on tht midwifery branch of the profession by the pro-
posed Bill, though none would deny that the midwifery
branch was one demanding as much care and attention

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

MIDLAND ClRCUlT.—Leiceder, March 25.

CROWN CO URT.—(Before Chief Jtkitice TINDAL.)
RIOT AND ASSAULT.—.Ia..eph Coithurs* Edward Tal-
bot Mullins, Henry Roper, Charles Henry Cosse, George
Richardson, and Thonw Hibbing, were charged with
having on the morning- of Saturday, the 16th day of No-
vember last, in the parish of Wymondharn, in this county,
been guilty of a riot. There were other counts in the
indictments charging assaults to have been committed
on the persons of Stephen Stokes, William Grooby, and
John Lewin.

as any other.
Mr. LANE seconded the resolution, and it was declared
carried. _ _

Messrs. Griffiths, Waite, and Osborne proposed and
seconded some other resolutions, which haying been

ink led,
Mr. Griffiths was called to the chair, and a vote of
thanks having been passed to Mr. Wyse, the meeting
separated.

The counsel engaged for the prosecution were, Mr.
Whitehurst, Q.C., Mr. Mellor, and Mr. Flowers. For
the defence, Mr. Hill, Q.C., Mr. Humfrey, Q.C., Mr.
W. Burnaby, and Mr. Macaulay.
This prosecution arose out of an attempt made by some
of the officers of the Midland Counties Railway to make
a survey of some portion of Lord Harborough's park,
called Stapleford Park, for the purposes of an intended
line of railway from Syston to Peterborough. The
affair made much noise at the time. The facts, as de-
tailed by counsel, and proved by the witnesses, were
as follow :—The Midland Counties Railway having
projected a branch line from Syston, a village about
five miles from Leicester, to Peterborough, it became
necessary to take the levels, &c., of the intended
line. The line in question was proposed to be carried
through Stapleford Park, the property of Lord
Harborough, running at a distance of near a mile
from the Noble Earl's residence, but within two or three
hundred yards of a cottage which his Lordship had built
and embellished at great cost, and in which he nearly
always resides. It appeared that a request had been
preferred by the Company to his Lordship to be allowed
to come upon the park for the purpose of making a
survey, but Lord Harborough refused such permission.
Some attempt had been made early in the week to make
the required survey by the towing-path of the Oakham
canal, which runs by the side of the park, but this had
been resisted. It would seem that some sort of an un-
derstanding was come to that no further attempt should
be made to complete the survey until the respective par-
ties bad been before a magistrate; but late on the Friday
night preceding the morning in question, information
was received by Lord Harborough's agents that the
Company intended at an early hour on Saturday to go
upon the park and make the required survey. Parties
were immediately dispatched to the neighbouring vil-
lages for the purpose of calling the tenants and labourers
on his Lordship's estate into the field to resist the in-
tended aggression, and some of them arrived upon the
ground as early as a quarter to six, where they found the
defendants, who, with the assistance of their work
people, to the number of 70 or 80, were about to com-
plete the business they had come upon. They were re-
quested to desist, and to go about their business. They
refused, and thence arose a fight and disturbance, which
lasted a considerable time, and in the result Lord Har-
borough's people remained masters of the field. Many
acts of violence on the part of the defendants were de •
posed to. A witness named Colson stated that, upon
warning the defendants to desist, they said they would
go on in spite of him, and he was pushed against and
rolled over. The " railways," as the witnesses for the
prosecution styled the company's servants, were armed
with long pieces of wood, having iron spikes at their
ends ; but these were to stick in the ground, and were a
part of their business apparatus. Some witnesses spoke
to their having bludgeons in their pockets. All the wit-
nesses for the prosecution denied that they themselves
had any weapons beyond walking-sticks, and those only
a few, and that their numbers did not exceed twenty or
thirty. Mr. Fabian, the steward of Lord Harborough,
stated that he arrived in the park a little before seven on
the morning of Saturday, and he thought there were
seventy or eighty, and from that to one hundred of the
" railways" present ; that he heard the noise in the park
upwards of half a mile off; that upon coming up he saw
Colthurst, and addressed him, saying, " These are most
disgraceful proceedings, Mr. Colthurst." He replied,
" Mr. Fabian, if you do not wish to be hurt, I should
advise you to go away." Mr. Fabian replied, "he
thought he (Fabian) had more right there than he had."
There was a desperate struggle, but at last the " rail-
ways" beat a retreat. Then he ordered the gates of
the park to be closed, in order that the parties
implicated might be identified, and among them were the
defendants.
In cross-examination, the witness said it had bees
called in the newspapers, " the battle of Suxby-bridge:"
Does not know that Lord Harborough commanded in
chief. Was a general on that occasion, if Mr. Hill
pleased to call him so. He sent Skinner over, Lord
Harborough's servant, as an aid-de-camp to summon the
rank and file to Stapleford. Could not tell their num-
ber, had not looked at the muster-roll lately. The men
who came before the fray was over and those who came
after received 2s. 6d. each, and rations on the Monday.
There was no artillery. Heard nothing about the
cannon of Lord Harborough's yacht until after the day
in question.
William Grooby spoke to Colthurst " bragging" at
him with a staff, having an iron spike at the end, with
which he made a hole in his coat, and John Lewins was
assaulted and had a wound in his side ; he could not see
it, but felt it for weeks afterwards. Many other wit-
nesses spoke to the noise and tumult that disiinguished
the morning of this eventful 15th, describing the " rail-
ways" as armed with staves, and distinguished by white
linen, or ribbon, tied round their arms, the morning not
at first being light.
Mr. HILL made an eloquent speech in favour of the de-
fendants, the gist of which was tolow that the parties in
question had no intent to commit or provoke any breach
of the peace, but they had gone there early in the
morning, so that Lord Harborough should be less dis-
turbed, and the number of men spoken to as being upon
the ground arose from the necessity there was for their
assistance to work the chains, many being provided to
finish the business of the survey.
The Clam JUSTICE said it was clear the defendants
had no right to have been there, and it was a riot of
more than three persons, assembled for a common pur-
pose, the object being to do that which would or might
create a breach of the peace.
The jury, however, acquitted the defendants of the
riot, and found them guilty of the assault only; and
they were sentenced each to one month's imprisonment
in the county gaol.
WARD V. LORD HARBOROUGH AND OTHERS.

OXFORD ClRCUlT.—Shrewsbury, March 15.

PROCEEDINGS at WASHINGTON

CROWN COURT.—(Before the LORD bIIIZI BARON.)
Pugh and Syas, the two men convicted last night of
stealing in a dwelling-house, were this morning sentenced
by his Lordship to imprisonment' with hard labour for
twelve calendar months.

- _
TIMES.—The consent of Congress to the annexation
of Texas is an event so long expected, that the question
of its justice has gradually merged in the vision of its
certainty. There was a time when the most enlightened
and thoughtful men of the Union could venture to en-
tertain a strong moral objection against it ; and their
arguments are on record. It was clear, however, that
the mass of the Union, its newest and most active ele-
ments, were in favour of the measure. Their eyes were
always reverting to Texas. Texas unappropriated, like
independent Megara within sight of Athens, was the
eyesore of the Union ; not but that there are other eye-
sores to the ambitious gaze of that people.
Whatever they see they love, whatever they
love they covet, and whatever they covet they ex-
pect and endeavour to obtain. But Texas was the
first thing in their way, and formed the bold foreground
of their hopes. Texas adjacent, revolted, independent,
still menaced and molested by the weak and impolitic

rulers whose yoke it had broken, already peopled and
governed by the citizens of the Union, or adventurers of
the same language and principles, was an acquisition
absolutely necessary, not so much to the happiness as
to the very comfort, the ease, the sleep, the digestion,
of certainly more than half the republic. The only part
of the business, therefore, on which there could be any
surprise, would be the particular time and manner which
republican wisdom and taste would select for the acquisi-
tion. To an European understanding there is something
quite grotesque in the time mid manner actually adopted.
The Congress comes to this momentous decision in the
very point of time between the two presidentships. Mr.
Tyler completes his career with a determination which
he cannot have the smallest share in carrying out, and
Mr. Polk will be engaged throughout his whole term in
the arduous execution of a project imposed upon him at
the first moment of his official existence. We in the old

world have long since chastised one another's desires to
at least the language of modesty and mutual deference.
The President is not overawed by the presence of one
. .

sovereign power in the length andbreadath of his conti-
nent. Hence he feels no indecency in expressing, in
glorifying every aggressive impulse of the heart. The
citizen, he says, must rejoice when a frontier line is re-
moved, when he can communicate freely, commercially
and politically with his neighbours, without the restric-
tions of trade, or the interference of foreign claims, and
foreign politics and morals. When such rejoicings are
arguments, then we may reasonably fear for the invidi-
ous frontier lines of the St. Lawrence, not to speak of
that other on the westward of the Rocky Mountains.
But other difficulties will arise before that day. Neither
democracy nor federation can solve the great problem of
society. Government is not so easy a task. The crea-
ture of a mob election, addressing his creators, may talk
in the same breath of clustering all nations in a consti-
tutional unity, and interdicting moral and religious in-
terference between the inhabitants of adjacent valleys ;
but human nature has assigned less to system, and more
to spiritual influences. She wall soon detect the hollow-
ness of union without unity, and of a political combina-
tion that aims to embrace the world, while it is afraid to
interfere with the grossest social corruptions in its own
bosom.

CHRONICLE.—So far as the United States Govern-
ment is concerned, the annexation of Texas is, to em-
ploy the phrase now so often used to characterise acts of
national rapacity, un fait accompli. We confess we are
much more mortified than surprised to find this ques-
tion terminated, like all others in which the Tory admi-
nistration had to combat the arts or the ambition of
foreign and of rival powers, that is, by the total discom-
fiture of British interests and views, whether dictated by
feelings of justice, of security, or of humanity. The
question of the independence or absorption of Texas was
handed over to the Tory Government as a fair field for
the exertion of their diplomatic skill, and of the hun-
dred means at a government's disposal for the work-
ing out of its ends. In these the Tory Govern-
ment has most miserably failed. The American Go-
vernment have decided upon the annexation of this im-
mense country, containing 300,000 square miles, and
are about to establish over that region their system of
slave-cultivation. It was, indeed, a question of life and
death to American slavery, which, if confined to its own
exhausted soils, must have declined, and met a natural
death at no incalculable interval of time, but which now,
have secured to it most ample room and root, cannot be
expected to pause till it fills the whole territory to the
Pacific, and deluges the New World, from which it had
-been partly stayed or driven, with its flood of misery and
crime. There is, indeed, one glimpse of hope, however
faint, and that is the resistance by the Texans, who
might reckon in the present state of Mexico on a
recognition by that power. But the independent feeling
of the 70,000 white citixens of Texas is, we fear, not
proof against the augmentation of value which their
lands and property would instantly gain by annexation
to so powerful an empire. And, especially as Lord
Aberdeen or his Envoy are to be the sole prompters and
supporters of this independent feeling, there can be
small grounds for its maintenance or triumph. It is
painful, indeed, to be thus driven to despair, painful to
behold, without a struggle, slavery, which we have so
long and so extensively, and not ineffectually combated,
thus regain what it has lost, and sweep, like a huge sea,
in uncontrolled devastation, over a surface of such vast
extent. Deplorable as is such a prospect, God grant we
may not have to contemplate something worse.
HERALD.—The decision of the American State in
favour of the annexation of Texas seems to have thrown
the good citizens of the republic into a state of phrensy,
one division of the republicans being mad with joy and
triumph, the other division as frantic with indignation
and despair. There may be something in the lex ron
scripta of North American politics to account for such
extraordinary raptures on opposite sides, but we confess
that we cannot fathom the mystery. The admirers
of negro slavery may rejoice at the prospect of
an accession to the slave-owner's interest, and
the abolitionists may dislike such a prospect in a
corresponding degree ; but what the decision of the
two chambers authorising the' President to annex the
Texan territory to the United States, if he can by the
means of negociation and 100,000 dollars, has to do with
the safety of the American constitution, we cannot easily
comprehend. The constitutionality or uncon,titution-
ality of the proceeding, however, does not properly
concern us, and we will not imitate the example of Mr.
Jo` :n Tyler by impertinently meddling in other people's
affair,. We have our own opinion of the character and
destiny of the A tn.:rican constitution ; but whatev.r our
opinion, that constitution will run its course, and it will
nut lees rapidly reach the appointed goal of all such
systenis, because of prjects like that of the annexation,
should the pr: jest take effect. Since writing the above the
President's Message has reached us. After the usual rig-
marole; in the course of which Mr. Polk compliments his
own country very warmly at the expense of " European
monarchies," he dwells with much satisfaction on the
decision of the American Senate in favour of the annexa-
tion of Texas, and assigns as an excuse for this viola-
tion of national faith, " that it is desirable to extend the
peace policy of the United States." He also asserts, in
most unequivocal language, the intention of the Ameri•
can Government to take possession of the Oregon. " Our
title," says Mr. Polk, " to the country, is clear and un-
questionable;" and the world is called upon to admire
the " peaceful triumph" of such a mode of acquiring ter-
ritory. On paper, at least, the disputed country is
already occupied These are the only intimations in the
Message calculated to excited any sort of sensation in
Europe. When a man proposes to commit an aggression,
nothing is more common than the belief that he is merely
asserting a right. There are, however, two words to
every bargain.
POST.—We publish in to-day's paper very impor-
tant intelligence from the United States. This com-
prises, first, the resolution of the Senate confirming that
of the Congress with regard to the annexation of Texas;
and, second, the speech of President Polk on his in-
auguration. The Senate, despite of all opinions to the
contrary, has agreed to the resolution of the Congress,
and Texas, so far as the United States is concerned,
is a part of' the Union. The new President
has also expressed himself in favour of the
proposal. True, an amendment was appended to the
resolution of the Senate, but the amendment does
not alter the broad fact that the overgrown States
of America are willing to sacrifice everything for
an addition to their already too wide domain. The
news is certainly of a very grave character, and will re-
quire the utmost attention and care from the Executive
in this country. It is true that Texas must be a con-
senting party to the contract, but it is equally evident
that America is determined to use every effort to ac-
complish her purpose, a purpose which cannot but com-
promise the interests of this country in the new world,
and which may lead to results of the highest importance.
The other news will be found of no less interest. The
President is determined to support the claim of the United
states to the Oregon territory ; and, at the same time,
desires peace with all mankind. It is to be seen how both
can be maintained.

This was an action for assault and false imprisonment,
and arose out of the disputes between his Lordship and
the Company. The plaintiff is an engineer, and on
Monday, the 11th, had gone over to Mr. Fabian's house
to ask pertnission to be allowed to carry out a survey on
the towing path of the Oakham canal. Mr. Fabian
stated he had no orders respecting it, but there was a
notice board warning people not to trespass in the park
under the penalty of 101. It appeared that Mr. Ward,
with his assistant, Mr. Roper, and ten or a dozen labour-
ing men, proceeded to make his survey, when Dawson,
the head gamekeeper of Lord Harborough, rode up and
ordered him off. Mr. Ward had at the time a theodolite
with him, an instrument used in surveying. Mr. Ward
was moving off the ground, when Mr. Dawson, who had
stated he should go back to Lord Harborough and ask
what he (Dawson) was to do, returned and took Mr.
Ward and his whole party into custody, and took pos-
session of the theodolite. Mr. Ward desired to he taken
before a magistrate ; he went with his assistant in his
own conveyance, but after they had gone about two
miles, Mr. Dawson told them they might go where they
pleased. The men were to be taken in a cart, and the
theodolite placed therein. These men had not gone far
before Skinner, a footman of his Lordship's, rode up,
and said his Lordship said " tbey might be all tipped
out of the cart, and go to the devil ; but if he found
them on his grounds again he would shoot them." The
theodolite was pitched into the road, and was proved to
have sustained damage to the extent of between 61
and 12/
The CUM? JUSTIOO directed a verdict to be entered
in favour of Lord Harborough, as there was nothing to
show that he issued the orders in question for the taking
of Mr. Ward and his party. Against the other defen-
dants—namely, Dawson and his two men—he thought
there should be a verdict, the jury giving damages as
much as would repair the theodolite, and whatever they
chose beside for the assault and detention.

The jury accordingly returned a verdict for Lord
Harborough, and against the other three defendants.
—Damages, 8/.
There was another case then called on, in which Lord
Harborough was plaintiff; but, at the suggestion of the
Judge, the Noble Earl consented to withdraw a juror.

NORFOLK ClRCUlT.—Cambridge, March 25.
CROWN COURT.—(Before Mr. Justice PATTESON.)
_ _

Wm. Fuller and Robert Munson were indicted for
feloniously setting fire to a stack of straw, the property
of Robert and James Chabie, of Toft.

Mr. Wor'ledge appeared for the prosecution, and Mr.
Burcham for the prisoners.
It appeared from the evidence for the prosecution that
the stack was discovered to be on fire about nine o'clock
in the evening of the Bth of June, and the prisoners were
seen near the prosecutor's premises a short time before
the fire, and met by one of the witnesses coming away
from the fire ; and on being asked where they had been
to, and what they had been doing, they refused to state,
and the witness immediately seised both the prisoners
by their collars, and detained them. When before the
magistrates the prisoners made false statements, which
were used as evidence against them on the trial.
Mr. BURMAN addressed the jury for the prisoners,
who, after much deliberation, returned a verdict of Guilty
against both.—Sentence deferred.
James Williamson, a boy aged thirteen years, was in-
dicted for setting fire to a stack of straw, the property of
Mr. William Coxall, of Tuft.
Mr. Mills prosecuted. The prisoner was defended by
Mr. C9uch. . _ _

- Plans for facilitating a passage across either of the
two important isthmuses will always be of interest to
the commercial public, if in the slightest degree plausible,
and hence aFrench pamphlet, issued by the "Cumpagnie
de l'lsthme de Panama," or the projectors of such a
Company, is worth a rief notice. The notion seems to
be to undertake the double method of railroad and canal
to connect the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, the scheme
, for the canal being apparently much less matured than
. the other. It seems, however, that it would start at the
, Bay of Limon, take the direction of the Chagres, and
after availing itself of the waters of this river, would
enter the sea by the valley of the Caimito. The rough
estimate of expense is 70,000,000 f., but this does not
pretend to be anything like an accurate calculation. The
projected railroad would take its origin likewise at the
• Bay of Limon, would follow the valley of the Chagres to
the conflux of the Trinidad, when it would be put in
.. connexion with the navigation, would continue in the
valley of the Chagres to the conflux of the Cpo-Que-
- brado, when it woulacross the Chagres by a bridge, and
descending the valley of the Caimito, would finally reach
Panama. The expanse of the railroad is estimated at
11,000,000 E, and the plan seems to be, to execute this
- first, and during its execution to complete those obser-
vations which will be requisite for the promotion of the
greater work, the canal.—Times.
EFFECTS OF THE REDUCTION OP THE GLASS
DIITY.—A proposal has been made in Manchester to
roof with glass two streets in the neighbourhood of the
Exchange, for the convenience of the congregated mer-
chants.

The case turned entirely upon the question whether
the stack had been set fire to in point of law, and it ap-
pearing from the evidence that the straw which had been
actually on fire, was a small quantity lying on the
ground close to the stack, and not pert of the body of it,
to which the flame had not extended, it having been
providentially extinguished almost at the moment of ig-
nition.

The Learned JUDGE thought the offence had not been
completed within the meaning of the statute upon which
the indictment was framed, and directed the jury to ac-
quit the prisoner.

NORTHERN ClRCUlT.—Liverpool,'March 25.
CROWN COURT.—(Before Mr. Justine COLTMAN.)
The Court was engaged the whole of the morning in
trying cases of prosecution on the part of the Mint,
against persons charged with making and uttering base
coin.

Matehew Harvey, aged 50, was indicted for having, in
the month of January last, at Bolton, feloniously as-
saulted one Frances Grogan, and violated her person.
Mr. Hulton stated the case to the jury.
It appeared that the girl who had suffered the vio-
lence was the daughter of a poor Irish woman, who had
come to lodge in the prisoner's house in January, only a
day or two before the offence was committed. The
mother and daughter both worked in a dandy-room shop
in a factory at a short distance from the house. The

Thomas Onions was indicted for night poaching in a
wood, the property of the Earl of Liverpool, at the parish
of Cound, in this county.
Mr. Corbett, Ben., conducted the cue for the prose-
cution, Mr. Neale defended the prisoner.
It was shown by the evidence, that on the night of the
sth of January, the prisoners, in company with a man of
the name of Sankie and another, was found by John
Bowen, one of the Earl's keepers, who, with others, was
watching in a cover. Sankie presented his gun, and told
them to stand off. Bowen struck the muzzle up, closed
with him, and disarmed him, firing the gun in the air, to
prevent further mischief. Henry Danks, another keeper,
was at the same time struck on the head with a stick by
the prisoner, and fell on his knee. Recovering himself,
however, and being similarly armed, a fight ensued,
which terminated in the capture of Onions, upon whose
person a hare and some ammunition were found. The
third poacher escaped. Verdict, Guilty. Sentence
postponed..

TliE SUN, LONDON, rRiDAY IVIOANiNd, MARCH 2,81 1845.

girl was but a little more than thirteen years of age, and
♦as proved to have sustained serious injury.
The prisoner, who was undefended by counsel, stated
that the mother had been taken into his house from
charity. He had children of his own to take care
of, and had been deserted by his own wife. Verdict,
Guilty.
He was called up to receive sentence, when his Lord-
ship tud him that the law left no discretion VI ith the
judge as to the punishment to be awarded for such an
offence, and the sentence therefore was, that he be tran-
sported for life.

Judge then went through the evidence, commenting
upon all the material portions of it as, he proceeded.
The jury, after consulting for a few minutes, returned
a verdict of Not Guilty.

As soon as the policeman said the prisoner must go
to the station•house, as he would give no account of
himself, the latter started up, and gave the former such
* violent blow in the mouth, as to send one of his teeth
down his throat, and to break another.

The officer,held the piece of broken tooth in his hand,
and said that he had been under the care of the sur-
geon since he had received the blow, and was unable to
attend to his duty.
The prisoner, who had at first ridiculed in a very wild
tone and manner the charge of having injured the po-
liceman, and said that the man had lost but a very small
part of his tooth indeed, and that the broken head
which had been given had led to the violence complained
of, seemed to have recovered from the fit of insanity
under which he had evidently laboured on the previous
examination. He was in a composed state, but no ex-
planation was made as to his visit to Mrs. Poole's
lodging.
The LORD MAYOR questioned the female as to any
provocation which the prisoner might have received,
and she replied that the policeman had merely taken the
prisoner by the arm, when the assault was given with
great fierceness. The policeman then used his staff
upon the head of the prisoner.
Thomas Balchin, City policeman 612, confirmed the
account given of the conduct of the prisoner, which re-
sembled that of a man in a state of madness, and
The LORD MAYOR ordered the unfortunate man to be
committed to prison.
CLERKENWELL.

Thomas Thomson, James Tapseoit, Geogre Ashley, and
Maly Ashley, were placed in the felon's dock, charged
with being engaged in the working of an illicit distil-
lery, and in the manufacture of illicit spirits, to a very
large extent, at 4, Turret's-court, High-street, Islington.
The penalty was laid at 300/. for each prisoner.
It appeared, from the evidence, that information
having reached the Excise, on the previous day, that il-
licit distillation was carried on to an immense extent in
the above-mentioned place, William Edward Cart-
wright, an officer of Excise, accompanied by sergeant
North, 17 N, and a body of police of that division, sur-
rounded the house at eleven o'clock on the pre-
vious night. Cartwright went to the back door
and knocked at it. The female prisoner came
to it with a candle, upon which Cartwright said, I am
an officer of Excise, open the door directly. Cartwright
enforced this demand by exhibiting a brace of loaded
pistols. Tapscott then came to the door, and the woman
retired. Cartwright said he would break open the door
if it were not forthwith opened; but, instead of comply-
ing, Tapscott commenced barricading the door, which he
did effectually. The officers seeing that peaceable en-
' trance was hopeless, dashed in a window and jumped in.
They had no sooner set foot inside than they were at-
tacked by a large spotted dog ; one of the police struck
it a blow with his truncheon, and the animal ran howl-
ing out of the house. By this time all the prisoners had
ascended the top or the liZnise, where they were cap-
tured ; one of them had hidden himself in a cupboard,
another under a bed. Ashley and his wife boldly
faced them—said they were lodgers, and knew
nothing about it. The lower part of the
house was occupied with the distillery, which, from its
sire and construction, was capable of producing between
200 and 300 gallons of spirits weekly. The still was
capable of containing between 70 and 80 gallons, and
there were five or six large vats filled with attenuated
molasses wash, and a tub containing thirty gallons of
low wine. There were some spirits in jars, and 130
gallons of other liquid. The fire beneath the still,
which was partly full, was burning with vigour, and the
smoke was artfully conveyed by pipes into a neighbour-
ing chimney. The prisoners were all removed to the
police station.
Connected with this case, and a part of the same sys-
tem of illicit distillation which is said to ramify through
the low districts of Telington, was a charge against a
fashionably-dressed young man, named John Smith,
for being concerned in th working of an illicit still, at
11, Popham-street, Islington.
The evidence in this case went to show that when the
police and officers in the above case had safely lodged
their prisoners at the station, they sallied out for Pop
ham-street, which on reaching they discovered that the
inmates had been apprised of their visit, for the street-
door was open, and the place showed no signs of resist-
ance or concealment ; they were at an utter loss to know
how the information could have been conveyed, for Tur-
ret's-court was more than half a mile distant, and there
they had secured all the inmates ; but they were not
ai long ignorant of the mode in which the intelligence w '
conveyed, for, on descending to the lower part of th
house, they again encountered the same large spotte
dog which had escaped from them in the former place,
and which they now made an effort to secure; the animal,
however, fought his way through them, darted out
at a window and escaped. They knocked loudly
at the door, and the prisoner came down stairs, wearing
spectacles, and in a peremptory manner asked what they
wanted. They told him, upon which he indignantly
repudiated their suspicions ; and when they attempted
t..) secure him, made a firm and desperate resistance, but
was at length overpowered. From the lower part of
the house the still had been recently removed, but 160
gallons of the wash was found there in a high state of
fermentation, as well as several other vessels contain-
h, liquor used in the distillation of spirits. A copper
had been thrust into the place of the still, but the still
1 tSeif was found in the prisoner's room upstairs, quite
warm and damp. It further appeared that the prisoner
was frequently seen going in and coming out of the
house, No. 4, Turret's-court.
The male prisoners were fined 301. each, and the
money not being forthcoming, they were each sentenced
to three months' imprisonment in the House of Cor-
r. ction.

The Excise declined to press the charge against the
woman.

if illiam Stokes, aged seventeen, dressed in a light
Taglioni, was charged by Jame:, Evers, of No. 5, Old
Ivers-street, Hoxton, with having picked his pocket of a
silk handkerchief. The prisoner was also charged by
Mrs. Maria Dent, of Charles-court, St. John-street,
Clcrkenwell, with having stolen her pocket, containing
two half-crown pieces and other articles.
It appeared that on Monday afternoon the prosecutors
were induced to enter an exhibition of wax-work and
legerdemain, on Clerkenwell-green, and whilst there they
were both robbed by the prisoner, who was observed to
throw the handkerchief and the pocket away, on being
taken into custody.
Mr. Evers and Mrs. Dent identified the prisoner as
having been close to them an I fumbling at their persons
when they missed their property ; their attention at the
time was fixed on the gentleman who was performing
legerdemain tricks ; they made an alarm, when the pri-
soner was given into custody. He threw a pocket hand-
kerchief, a pair of compasses, and a bottle away, and
he dropped Mrs. Dent's empty pocket on the floor. On
being searched two half-crowns were found in his pos-
sr ssion.

James Taylor, the proprietor of the exhibition, who
described himself as a " comedian," a " legerdemainist,"
and a performer of " dexterity illusions," stated that he
had engaged the place on Clerkenwell-green for the ex-
hibition of wax-work figures, and he conducted the " es-
tablishment" in a respectable way. He was performing
his "deceptions" when an alarm was made that some
persons had been robbed by the prisoner, who was
pointed out to him. He immediately jumped over the
table before him and collared the prisoner, who threw
the handkerchief, &c., under the table, and he dropped
Mrs. Dent's pocket.
Mr. GawaswooD—What is the price of admission ?
Taylor—Only the small charge of one penny.
Mr. GREENWOOD—What sort of tricks do you per
form ? Taylor—Exactly the same sort as Mr. Ander-
son, the Wizard of the North.

Mr. GREENWOOD—Are you as clever as that per-
former ? Taylor—l leave that to the judgment of my
audience and the public. • There is a great advantage in
having a name.
Mr. Mould (the clerk) said he had noticed the exhibi-
tion. Taylor appeared to be an itinerant competitor of
Madame Tussaud, for he had already wax effigies of
Tawell, Hocker, and Tapping in his collection.
Mr. GREENWOOD—Is that the fact ? Taylor—Yes,
your worship ; I try to cater for the amusement of the
public. It is the duty of managers, and I trust my col-
lection is not inferior to some of the best.

The prisoner, in his defouce, denied the robberies. A
person whom he " know'd" was the thief, but he did not
like to expose him. He merely went to see the wax-
work like other people, without intending robbery. He
was out of work.

Mr. GREENWOOD inquired of the officers whether the
prisoner was known ?
Waddington and Duke, the officers, did not know him;
but on examining his taglioni they discovered that the
pockets were out at each side of :he garment, to enable
him to put both arms-through the holes, and when in a
crowd to use his hands freely with the pockets of parties,•
and aft,er extracting the property he could remain in a
deliberate position with it in his hands, as if he had not
disturbed them from his pockets.--(Laughter.) This,
they said, was an old and common trick with pick-
pockets, and they had no doubt as to his being a thief.
The prisoner denied all this, but he was fully com-
mitted for trial on both charges.
BOW-STIIEET.

Japes Boabyerwas.charged before Mr. Twyford
with stealing a spaniel dog, valued at W., the property
of Robert Mortimer, tobacconist, of 14, Duke•street,
Lincoln's Inn-fields. _

The prisoner had another dog under his arm, when
placed in the dock, of a similar breed.
The prosecutor missed his spaniel from his own shop
on the night of the 30th of January, and, although he
valued it highly (having been offered 3/. for it a short
time previously), he took no steps to recover possession
of it. Within the last fortnight the prisoner's wife called
on him, and said that she knew a " party" who had got
a dog exactly corresponding with the one he had lost,
and who would give it up on payment of the expenses,
&c. He replied, that he should do nothing of the sort,
but would give the first man in custody whom he met
with it, at the same time affecting an indifference as to
the loss. On Tuesday the prisoner himself went to pro-
secutor's house, and said he would be the means of get-
ting the dog back again if the owner would pay him
15s. Prosecutor's wife said it was too bad, but she would
not mind 10s., and accordingly threw four half-crowns
on the counter, which he refused to take, alleging
that the expenses alone amounted to 12s. 6d. She
then said she would pay the money if he produced the
dog first, but this he declined doing. He said it was
" close handy," and he could fetch it in five minutes, but
would not do so until the money was paid. The prose-
cutor thou interfered, and threatened to give the pri-
soner into custody, upon which he became very abusive,
and declared that " if they took him to Bow-street, he
would screw their necks for them." Prosecutor called
in a policeman, and, by his advice, the prisoner was
given in charge. After conducting him to the police-
station, prosecutor accompanied the officer to the pri-
soner's lodgings, which was found to be at 1, Garden's-
lane, Cow-cross, St. John-street. At this place they
discovered a variety of dogs, all of which were taken to
the station, but the prosecutor's was not found amongst
them.
NSU

An officer who was at the police-station when the pri-
soner arrived, proved that, after offering to deliver up
the spaniel if the prosecutor would abandon the charge,
the prisoner sent his wife to go and fetch it, desiring her
" to take it to the owner, whatever might be the conse-
quences." She went away with that intention, and sub-
sequently produced the dog, which was instantly identi-
fied by the prosecutor.
The prisoner said he merely picked up the dog in
Vere-street, about five or six weeks ago, not knowing to
whom it belonged. He hoped God would forgive him if
he told a lie, if the Magistrate did not, and that was all.
He declared that he had not been out of doors from that
time to the present, having met with an accident the
very night he found the dog. If picking up a dog in the
street was stealing, why of course he stole it, and that
was all he had to say about it.
Mr. TwYsonD asked how he had come possessed of
all the other dogs found at his lodgings?
The prisoner replied that he had met with them ho-
nestly, and could call a witness who was present to prove
it. A week or two ago he gave 31. for one of them.
The witness alluded to was not forthcoming.
Mr. TWYFORD had no doubt of the prisoner's guilt,
and therefore fined him 51., in addition to the value of
the dog, 21, directing his committal to hard labour for
two months in default of payment.
The prisoner—Hard labour, indeed! I shall pay the
money rather than put up with that, at all events.
He was then removed from the bar, and at a later
period of the day a companion waited on the Magistrate,
and requested a mitigation of the penalty to 51. This
request was refused by his worship, and consequently
the entire amount was paid, upon which the prisoner
was liberated.