The Sun.
London, England, 1844-11-26 00:00:00

COURT CIRCULAR.

WINDSOR, MONDAY.—The Queen will hold a Privy
Council at the Castle on Thursday next, at half-past
two o'clock.

Her Majesty, Prince Albert, the Duke and Duchess
of Saxe Cobourg and Gotha, and the Duke Ernest of
Wurtemberg, took an early promenade in the plea-
sure grounds. After the return of the royal party to
the Castle, the Prince, accompanied by the Dukes of
Saxe Cobourg and Wurtemburg, and the Earl of
Liverpool, and attended by le Baron de Alvensleben
and Colonel Arbuthnot, left the Castle in the mail
phaeton, to shoot in the royal preserves. Mr. J. E.
Anson and Colonel Wylde attending, on horseback.
His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales was taken
for pony and walking exercise.
Her Majesty and Prince Albert walked out in the
afternoon.

Sir Henry Wheatley arrived at the Castle to-day,
on a visit to the Queen.

The Marquis of Granby, and the Marquis and
Marchioness of Normanby took their departure from
the Castle to-day.
Their Royal Highnesses the Dukes of Saxe Coburg
and Gotha, and Ernest of Wurtemberg, attended by
Baron de Alvensleben and Captain Vyner rode out on
horseback in the Great Park this afternoon.

Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent, Lady
Fanny Howard, and the Countess Wratislaw, joined
the royal circle at dinner.

The band of the Scots Fusilier Guards was in
attendance during dinner.
Her Majesty's private band afterwards attended
at the Castle.

his Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge, at-
tended by Baron Knesebeck, arrived at his residence
at Kew last evening, from a visit to Colonel Wynd-
ham, at Petworth House, Sussex.
A Cabinet Council was held yesterday afternoon,
at the Foreign-office. It was attended by Sir Robert
Peel, the Duke of Wellington, the Lord Chancellor,
Lord Wharncliffe, Earl of Aberdeen, Lord Stanley,
Sir James Graham, the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
Earl of Haddington, Earl of Ripon, Right lion. W.
E. Gladstone, Lord Granville Somerset, and Sir Ed-
ward Knatchbull. The Council sat three hours and
a half.

A deputation from the Committee of the British and
Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, consisting of George
Stacey, Robert Forster, J. Hinton. Jos®h Cooper,
Samuel Gurney, Josiah Forster, and J. Scoble, had
an interview with Sir Robert Peel yesterday at his
official residence in Downing-street.
The Portuguese Minister and the Russian Minister
transacted business yesterday at the Foreign-office.
Mr. Wickham, Chairman of the Stamps and Taxes,
had an interview with the Chancellor of the Exche-
quer yesterday at his official residence in Downing-
street.

Sir Robert P. e 1 had a dinner party yesterday at
his residence in Whitehall-gardens.
Dispatches were received yesterday at the Colo-
nial-office from the Governor of Gibraltar.

GREAT ROBBERY AT MESSRS,
ROGERS AND TOWGOOD'S BANKING•

HOUSE.

A robbery to an awful extent was committed be-
tween Saturday night and Monday morning, in the
banking-house of Messrs. Rogers, Towgood, and Co.,
bankers, of Clement's-lane. It was stated that bank-
notes to the amount of from 35,0001. to 40,000/. or
41,000/. were stolen out of the iron safe which is de-
posited in the hall of the inner office, and that securi-
ties to a very large amount have been taken by the
thieves.

It is a remarkable circumstance connected with this
robbery, that on the morning of yesterday, when it
was first discovered, there was no internal appearances
from which suspicion could be entertained upon en-
tering the office that any robbery had been
_perpe-
trated, or attempt at robbery had been made. Every-
thing was in its accustomed order; the iron safe, in
which the cash and securities were regularly depo-
sited, was locked, and the iron chest, in which it was
usual to deposit the master-kay of the safe, to which
there were two locks, was also secure.

It was, we understand, the practice of the partners
of the firm, of which there are said to be four, to re-
lieve each other in the heavy cash business of the
house at stated periods, and each of them keep keys
of the safe and iron chest; and it is supposed that
one of these gentlemen left behind him his keys upon
some occasion of hurry or forgetfulness, a d that
with these keys the places of former security were
violated. Some force had been used on a tin box in
which several valuable securities were kept ; but it
appeared that the thieves had made some mistake
with regard to the exact position of these documents,
for they worked on the wrong side, and are so far
disappointed. They laid hands upon enough, how-
ever, to console them for their blunder, as appears
from the enormous list of bank-notes announced in a
large handbill issued last night.
In that handbill are the particulars of the stolen
Bank of England notes, which amount altogether to
40,7101. Of those bank-notes there are 168 for 51.,
40 for 101., 37 for 201., 10 for 301., 12 for 401., 9 for
501., 10 for 1001., 5 for 2001., 1 for 5001., and 35
for 1,0001. The handbill states that further parti-
culars of the bills of exchange will be published, and
that whoever will give such information as will
to the apprehension of the guilty party or parties, or
either of them, and recovery of the property, or any
part thereof, shall receive 3,000/. reward, or a part
thereof proportionate to the sum which shall be re-
covered.

Mr. Hobler has been employed by the banking-
house to investigate the case, and has secured the
able assistance of Daniel Forrester, the officer. As
the firm do not belong to the Committee of Bankers
against frauds and forgeries, Messrs. Bush and Mul-
lins have of course nothing to do with the prosecution.
It appears that the money was deposited in the
iron safe ; and, as usual, a clerk was appointed to
watch over its safety during the day, and another
clerk to perform the like duty during the night. One
of the partners remaining at home yesterday, the day-
clerk asked permission to go out for a few hours,
which was granted. At the accustomed hour in the
evening the other clerk came, and remained during
the night ; but when business was resumed yesterday
morning, and the iron safe opened with the ordinary
key, it was found entirely empty ; and yet no force
whatever had been used in the employment of the
means adopted to rid the chest of its valuable con-
tents. Of course, all is conjecture upon the subject.
Notes to the amount of 35,0001. have been stopped at
the Bank ; and Forester, the active and intelligent
City police-officer, is engaged in endeavouring to
trace the party guilty of this daring and flagrant
crime.

MR. MACREADF.—The baggage and effects of this
gentleman, containing a considerable portion of the
splendid dresses worn by him in his dramatic delinea-
tions, and which he took with him In Ms professional
tour to the United States. have arrived in the St. Katha-
rine's Docks, by the ship Quebec, from New York, and
this eminent actor personally attended their examina-
tion by the Customs officers yesterday afternoon, and
went through the usual forms of declaration, &c., re-
quired for their delivery as British returned private
effects, duty free. Some of the dresses are exceedingly
handsome. The majority of the company engaged by
Mr. Mitchell for the ensuing English performances in
Paris left town on Sunday morning for that capital, and
Mr. Macready intended to take his departure at the same
time had ho not been detained in order to obtain posses-
sion of his baggage. He was to leave for the French
capital last night by the Dover Railway, to make the ne-
cessary preparations for the completion of the arrange-
molts for the performance of English plays at the Opera
Italien, which commence on Monday next.
REINFORCEMENTS FOR THE BAR.—During Michael-
mas Term, no less than 54 persons were called to the
bitTz whici;att the commencement of term, as appeared
by publication of the fact, numbered 2,243 individuals.
Of the 54, 15 were called by the Honourable Society of
Lincoln's Inn, eight by the Honourable Society of the
Inner Temple, 29 by the Middle Temple, and two by
Gray's Inn.

TIM SANATORIUM, OR HOME IN SIC:=NZSi--Vi§s
Burdett Coutts h4s glade the inu4ific4it'd6Palion
to ads excellent institution. of 50/.

STRIKE OF THE BARKING
FISHERMEN.
i _

No fewer than sixty fishing smacks, belonging to
Barking, in Essex, are at this moment lying in the
River, a little below Woolwich, their crews having
brought them home from sea, and struck work. As
the Barking fishery has long been one of the prin-
cipal sources of supply to the Billingsgate market, a
few particulars respecting its present condition, and
the alleged causes of the strike, may not be unaccept-
able to our readers. The total number of smacks
belonging to Barking, though nominally sailing from
the port of London, is about one hundred and sixty.
These are wet-bottomed vessels, generally of from
fifty to sixty tons, and carrying each three men be-
sides the captain, and about the same number of ap-
prentices. Their principal fishing grounds are off
the coast of Holland, and during the cod season
in the North Sea and about the Orkney Islands.
In the summer and autumn it is not unusual
for many of them to work out of Harwich,
Lovrestoff, or Yarmouth, or the eastern coast.
The kind of fish they are employed in catching
varies with the season and locality ; it is mostly cod,
sole, haddock, or plaice. A smack's cargo commonly
contains more than one of these varieties. The dura-
tion of the voyages is also subject to a correspending
variation from the same circumstances. Where seve-
ral smacks are the property of a single owner, or of
two or three in the same family, they are generally
worked in fleets of from fifteen to thirty sail, each
smack in its turn bringing to market the fish caught
by the whole fleet. In this way a large fleet is en-
abled to keep up a regular and constant supply ; thus
a fair average of the market is secured, and the time
of absence from home rendered less variable and un-
certain. Frequently, however, the smacks only come
up the river as far as Gravesend, and having dis-
charged their cargo of fish into the hatch-boats that
ply between that place and the London market, they
take in fresh provision and return to sea. This is
called making a " Gravesend voyage." It tends to
keep the men longer from their homes and families;
but effects a great saving of time to the owners.
Formerly these Gravesend voyages were not so com-
mon as they are at present ; and the men generally
found means to get home on the average once a
month. But to meet the increased competition that the
supply of fish by railway has introduced, the owners
have made them more frequent, till the usual time of
absence has increased to:six or eight weeks, and often
more. One extensive proprietor, the owner of about
fifty vessels, has also, for the last year, employed a
very fast-sailing cutter to carry provisions to his
smacks, and those of the numerous small owners who
are his dependents, and to bring their fish back to
meet the boats at Gravesend. By this means, the
I crews of more than half the smacks belonging to the
place have been kept out at sea for periods of from
three to six months. This lengthened absence from
home and its comforts the working fishermen have
long felt to be a great privation, their stays on shore
being always much shorter than those of other sea-
men. The middle class of owners, thinking probably
that a partial return to the old system would place
them on a more equal footing with the extensive
proprietor above referred to, lent a favourable ear to
their complaints, and, with their concurrence, the
crews of seventy vessels have struck, and re-
turned home. The other owners have, it is
said, promised to take an additional hand
in each vessel, to prevent any being thrown
out of berth should the men's demands
not be acceded to. The apprentices, of whom
more than two hundred are already on shore, will,
of course, be thrown upon their masters' hands. The
demands of the men are for increased wages and
shorter voyages. Their present rate of wages is—
men fourteen shillings a week, and mates sixteen.
They want this to be advanced two shillings in each
case, and the time of absence to be limited to one
month. The majority of the owners seem inclined
to grant them this, but others are averse to all con-
cession. The general opinion, however, is, that " the
owners must give in." The reasons assigned are,
that this is the most profitable part of the year, that
"all hands" are in the strike, and that the men of
other places are not suited to the particular kind of
fishery in which the inhabitants of Barking are en-
gaged. One thing is certain, that if the strike con-
tinues long the loss to large owners will be very
great. Those who continue at sea will obtain high
prices for such fish as they can bring to market,
though it is doubtful whether this advantage will be
more than overbalanced by their participation in the
general loss.

CHURCH-RATES.-ANOTHER
VICTIM.

Devoutly indeed should all sound-hearted Church
men pray, that the Church might be saved from its
friends. Our readers recollect the proceedings which
took place a few years ago at Leicester and other
places, in consequence of a conscientious objection
which several Non-Conformists held to churchriAtes.
Another recusant has been victimised to the bigotry
of a clique of devouts, who choose to re-establish some
of the worst practices of the Inquisition, and promote
the cause of Christ by penalties and dungeons.
We have not time to enter upon the whole parti-
culars this week. A few of the facts, however, we
will briefly state.

A milkseller, named Wragg, who for sixteen years
has been a consistent member of a Baptist church,
and who has a wife and four small children, objected,
with others, on conscientious grounds, to a church-
rate levied in St. Werbugh's parish. A " small and
secret junto" (to quote from the letter of Air.
Gawthorn, inserted elsewhere) directed the Church-
wardens to cite Wragg into the Spiritual Court of
Doctor's Commons, where expenses have been run up
against him to the amount of 231.! Further steps
have yet to be taken, the result of which will be the
ruin of the poor man and his family, and, in all pro-
bability, the incarceration of his person in a dungeon,
since, we understand, he is determined not to pay.
We shall have more to say on this subject next
week—and probably for many a week to come—
meanwhile, we have to congratulate the clergyman
who is reported to have taken part in these proceed-
ings on the Christian spirit which the act displays.
How strikingly in accordance with the precepts of
Scripture is an iniquitous proceeding like this!
What an unction the godly man must lay to his soul
when appealing to the God of love and mercy for an
approving testimony to the correctness of his princi-
ples!—Derby Reporter.

TUE SIGNS OF LONDON.---It is not a hundred years
since a great part of London was disfigured by signs
suspended from almost every house in which any busi-
ness was carried on. By degrees the metropolis was
cleared of these incumbrances, many of which projected
from the houses, and completely spoiled the appearance
of some of the best streets. To a very late period the
signs of inns and public-houses in country towns and
villages stretched across the public reads, but with the
progress of taste and improvement, nearly all these
remnants of vulgar display have vanished, It is, how-
ever, melancholy to observe that a kind of re-action has
for some time commenced in the metropolis. The smal-
lest trader must be distinguished by his name and occu-
pation being displayed in the largest letters. Not satis-
fied with enlarging the letters of the alphabet, all manner
of companies, dispensaries, infirmaries, and societies, are
now occupied in covering the whole front of the tene-
ments they occupy with huge boards or plaster entabla-
tures, announcing to the public the peculiar merits of
their institution, or the wondrous cures they have
achieved, or hope to achieve, at the expense of the public.
Surely such institutions, if really meritorious, would at-
tract public:attention without so much outside show. It
savours very much of quackery, and should operate as a
caution to the public. It is like " the sellings off at 20
per cent. under prime cost," " the great sacrifice for
ready money," and the numerous attempts on public
credulity that have met with the fullest explanations in
the exposures that have recently taken place in the Bank-
ruptcy Court.

'e have lately been infested by an extraordinary
number of vagrants, many of whom care not what out-
rage they commit, in order that they may be sent to the
House of Correction. The fact i 9 too notorious to be
denied, from whatever cause it may spring. On Wed-
nesday the magistrates were occupied a considerable time
in adjudicating upon vagrancy cases, and private hear-
ings of a similar nature are occuring almost daily. In
some instances the offer of liberation, upon condition of
leaving the town, has been immediately rejected, and the
longest term of imprisonment allotted the accused con-
sidered as a boon. During the past week a man and his
wife, who had just escaped from " durance " (?),
were sentenced to three months' imprisonment, with
hard labour, for begging about. Leamington streets. The
man took a stone 42'."m his pocket, on being appre-
hended. n.^ deliberately deliberately threw it at the window of Mr.
ewby, chemist, High-street, breaking a pane of glass
valued at 2/. The woman broke two panes in the win-
dow of Mr. Cranwer, whitesmith. These offences arose,
in both instances, from a refusal of relief. On Tuesday
night no less than six vagrants tore up all their clot);-es
(excepting only their nearer garment, and in Snie in-
stances even this was partialiy mutilated) .nto pieces
about three inches square, and in this 12).;ght were ac-
tually arraigned before the magistrates the following
morning. They were all senterTed to one month's im-
prisonment, with hard laboor. Money and refreshments,
we are informed, have on some occasions been offered to
induce the offent!ers to leave the town, but without
avail ; they seem determined to " winter " in the House
of Correction. It is probable the subject will be intro
duced at the ensuing sessions, with a view of remedying
the evil,--Werzeich Advertiser.
COVENT-GARDEN THEATRE—The orchestral An-
tinous Jullien had an immense audience last night upon
the strength of the announcement that Sivori would play
his amusing variations on the
NCarnavaldeVeniesvee Venice.''
before congregated within
Such a vast assemblage of people, re believe, was n l
ed s of the
movementtheatr theatre. The
wi
" promenade was so ro
impossible ; and the boxes and galleries were equally
the
te r o wwadl
well filled. Sivori was:received with great applause, and
his grotesque variations—never before played by him
more perketly or humorously—were encored by a hr..,
cape of voices,

There will be n (`-'
t. :

—“uinet Council on Thursday, at
truoiu tut the Ministers are expected to be present.