The Sun.
London, England, 1845-11-01 00:00:00

THE BITER BIT.

A circumstance has taken place within these few days
which has formed a very general subject of conversation.
From the reports in circulation, we learn that a gentleman
who was staying at a fashionable watering-place, having
more plate than he required, resolved to sell some of it, to the
value of about 3001.

For this purpose he applied to a certain silversmith, who
made the purchase for the above sum. The plate was ac-
cordingly sent to him, and the following morning the gentle-
man called for the money. The silversmith declared that he
had had an unexpected call for money, and asked him to
take two bills, 1501. each, at a short date. The gentleman
expressed himself somewhat surprised, but, after some hesi-
tation, he took the bills, waited till they became due, and
then presented them for payment. Again an excuse for non-
payment was made, and the gentleman was requested to
hold over the bills. In this, too, he acquiesced, thinking
more, however, as it subsequently appeared, on the matter
than he said.

He held the bills some time, and the matter slept.
One day, however, another gentleman, quite a stranger to
the silversmith, called upon him, made some purchases to a
considerable amount, and then asked very coolly whether
the silversmith could supply him with some silver goods of
a certain pattern 1 " Certainly, Sir," said the silversmith
very blandly, " and to any amount." A pattern was ac-
cordingly sent to the silversmith, and goods were ordered to
the value of about 1501., with orders • for them to be sent to
the same hotel as soon as finished.. The silversmith ac-
cordingly hurried up to London, had the goods made per
pattern, and when they were finished he took them him-
self to the gentleman, No. 2, at the hotel ; saw him ; pre-
sented the goods, and the bill for them. " Very well,
Sir," said the gentleman, " and now, waiter, take the goods
to my room, and I will pay you for them," turning to the
silversmith. The bill amounted to 304/. odd, and he told
the silversmith to give him a receipt for- the amount and the
balance out of a 51. note, which the silversmith having
done, the gentleman handed him over the odd sovereigns and
silver, and two long strips of paper. The silversmith exa
mined them. In an instant his jaw fell—his face assumed as
many hues as a peacock's tail—his eyes flashed with fury—
his hands trembled—his whole frame shook with rage.
" What are these, Sir?—Why! Why 1 They are my
own bills !"

"Yes, I suppose you will not object to your own bills ?"

"What do you mean, Sir? They are of no use to me."

"If not to you to whom else?"
-
"Sir, you are a rogue—a swindler. I will see whether
there is no law for you, Sir."
Those who witnessed the scene say that Shylock, when
done out of his pound of flesh, was far less furious than his
descendant on this occasion. The bills were, in fact, the same
that he had given the gentleman No. 1 for his plate, which
now made their appearance in this horrid form and shape.
He went off like a culverin to fetch a lawyer. One came,
and on introducing himself to the gentleman No. 2, he very
coolly referred him to his solicitor, in the adjoining room.
They had an interview, and the silversmith's lawyer, finding
that he could make nothing of such a case, abandoned the
field. The silversmith fetched another, and he, too, had an
interview with the gentleman's solicitor, but who, after some
conversation with the second lawyer, quitted the room,
placing the tip of his right-hand thumb to his nasal promon-
tory, and spreading his fingers in a very significant manner,
as urchins do in the streets, to intimate to the silversmith's
lawyer that it was " no go."
The circumstance getting wind brought the silversmith's
creditors, it is said, about his ears, and the shop is closed.
It seems to have been a well-concerted plan between the
gentleman No. 1 and No. 2 to recover, at least, a portion of
the value of the plate sold to the silversmith. We say a
portion—as the goods bought by No. 2 could not be worth
3001., and then there was the expense of the lawyer, and his
journey down and up, to bring the transaction to a climax.—
Brighton Herald.

CRIMES OF RESPECTABLE PEOPLE.—M. L—, a
jeweller, was in the habit of dining every Sunday in the
Palais Royal, at the restaurant Fournier. Icor some time the
master of the establishment had remarked that a number of
spoons and forks constantly disappeared. Each time that
the family L— dined there he had recommended his waiters
to exercise the most strict surveillance. Last Sunday M.
L— entered with his wife, children, and female servant, and
the waiter followed his master's instructions in all things.
After the dinner he found that five articles were missing. As
it was impossible that they could have gone unless taken by
M. L—, or one of his party, that gentleman was asked to
step into a private room. When informed of what was
suspected, M. L— exclaimed loudly against such an accu-
sation, but M. Fournier insisted on both him and his wife
being searched, and on Mme. L— were found the five
missing articles. M. L— was horror-struck ;he endea-
voured to justify the act of his wife by intimating that she
was enceinte. The commissary of police was sent for, and
search being' instituted at the residence of Mme. L—, an
article of plate was found which had been taken away a
fortnight before from M. Fournier. It had been placed
in the shop-window, amongst the second-hand goods.
Mme. L— being questioned, stated that she had purchased
the article from a man whose name she had not taken down,
because the article was only imitation, and of little value.
It is difficult to comprehend Mme. L.'s conduct, when it is
stated that the other articles were also imitation, and that
she could not possibly be mistaken in them, being constantly
in the habit of handling gold and silver articles in her hus-
band's business. The commissary of police has thought it
his duty to place both M. and Madame L— at the dis-
posal of the Procureur du Roi. Their shop has, in conse-
quence, been shut up. and the children, one thirteen years
of age and the other thirteen months, left with their servant.
This sad event has thrown the family of Madame L— into
consternation. M. Fournier himself experienced great regret
when he heard that Madame L— was the daughter and
sister of two persons of his acquaintance, of irreproachable
character.—Gazette de Tribun,eaux.

DECLINE OF SOCIALISM.--ROMSET, OCT. 25.—The
formidable building at Tytherley, in this neighbourhood, con-
structed for, and some time since tenanted by, members of
the " New Moral World," has already out-lasted its original
uses, and not a few of its former inmates are seeking other
habitations, with curses both loud and deep at the delusion of
which they have been the dupes. The society is generally
understood to be insolvent, or nearly so, nor would it appear
from evidence recently given before the revising barrister,
that the finances of its founder are in a very flourishing con-
dition. The estate of Rose-hill, near Broughton, was pur-
chased for and presented to Mr. Owen, who claimed in July
last to vote in county elections in respect of ownership ;
this claim was objected to, and on the examination by Mr.
H. L. Footner, of Stockbridge (an adjoining parish), it was
stated by the occupying tenant, that no portion of the rent
was paid to the soi-disant proprietor, but that all of it went
to the mortgagee. Many shattered fortunes, and much con-
sequent distress, are the results of this effort to establish
Socialism in Hampshire, and a huge impracticable edifice
remains as a monument of its folly and its fallacy. We re-
cently mentioned the circumstance that a few late residents
at Harmony Hall have found a " local habitation" at Bent-
ley, not far from their old dwelling, and are acquiring a
" name" for peculiarity of opinions and mode of life. The
patriarch of the party (a Mr. Galpine), and the principal
features of his teaching and example are—the practice of
abstinence and entire denial of luxuries, with the adoption
of the New Testament as an exclusive guide-book.—Hamp-
shire Advertiser.

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