The Sun.
London, England, 1828-11-26 00:00:00

GUILDHALL.

A por Scotch woman, named Mar area Johns-
ton, who hail been detected in attempting to smuggle
half a gallon of gin ilto Whitecross prison, was
brought before Mr. Alderman W4YrnataN yesterday,
o be dealt with according to law.
FrAv,s had her son with her when placed at the bar,
a boy of ei,V;t or nine years old ; and, whilst the evi-
dence was taking ilcwn, she was alternately clasping
her son in her arms, not. Piing upon her knees ;
whilst they both wept together Ego loud that what
the witnesses said could scarcely be lieud, The
offence haviog been proved, she again sunk upon her
knees, and cried mood for mercy ; at the same time
handing in a written paper, in which she stated that
si2 :,rts the wife of a journey-caap baker, who had
deserted k.er, and his son in Scotland, cTid was.now
in the employ of master baker in Thames-street;
that she and the boy bad begged their ‘aay up from
Scotland, and arrived in Loadon about six weeks
ago in search of the run-away husband and father;
but that he would do nothing for them, arid they
had in consquence subsisted entirely by begging
during the six weeks they had been here, without a
home or shelter of any Jc;nd, and sometimes without
food for two days together. The memorial stated
• farther, that she had been tempted to do what she
had done, by the cries of her child for food; that she
did not know that she was doing any thing against
the law; and, finally, it besought the Magistrate to
" have mercy on a puir heart-broken, starving, and
dist;•eeted creature."
Mr. AZdeTman Wan-Hams asked Mr. Barrett, the
governor of the prison, whether he thought her
statement was true ; and be replied that, having
al,..ide some inquiry, he had reascu t.; believe it %vas
true. He then made some communication w the
Magistrate privately; upon which, Mr. Alderman
Waithman askew; the prisoner by whom she had
been employed to carry
itig gin into the prison ' • and
sshy.w.*;.wered that she had been ar;ailoyeil by aMrs..
t;.
Clarke.
Mr, Aldertmn WAITtIMAN convicted the prisoner
in the mitigated penartyr of 101. Of course she was
was sentenced, in
,to one month's imprisonment in Rridewell—
y anything; and v,b,,,
ndernab,llet
to pa}'
wymission to have her boy with her
vaenee was afterwards commuted to four,
which
'
teen days,
in prison.
NOTE.—It is a fact well known to the authorities,
tii debtors within the prison are a; league with
publicans And sinners outside, to procure and :orn
like this poor Scotchwornan,
poor destitute metures,
to secrete and carry in sprits; who, if they succeed
in carrying it in undiscovered, receive some trifling
,remuneration ; and if they fail, they are 1ei....; to the law
—which only punishes the ignorant instrument,
,-..14
lets go by the' cunning and practised suborner.
Mr. James Goulder, a ;lady's shoemaker, or, tech-
nically, a latly's man, was eharg,ed w,it.if bring as-
saulted his wife, Maria.
Mrs. Maria Goulder stated her own ease. ,Ske
had been married to Mr. Goulder Mice months, she
said; and though they " had a few s.quahbles now
and then," yet they "got on pretty well consider-
ing,' wisp last Sunday; when she " happened to

over-boil the potatoes," and that " put an end to
every thing," and superinduced the assault in ques-
tion. On that day Mr. G. had invited a friend of
his to dinner upon pickled pork and potatoes. The
pork being nearly done, Mrs. G. " popp'd the po-
tatoes into the pot," and went out to get the beer;
and in less than ten minutes she returned; but when
she " peep'd Lao the pot," the potatoes were " all
boiled to mash—quite squashy !" Mr. G. was so
angry at this, that he not only refused to eat the
potatoes, but " he set his face against the pickled
pork also," and would not touch a morsel of it—
though Mrs. Goulder " did all she could to get
him to ir." Consequently they had a very un-
comfortable dinner. time ; for though Mrs. G. " did
not care twopence for the over-boiling of the pota-
toes, so she could but sit down and make a hearty
meal,"—yet Mr. G. would not be quiet; but "kept
harping upon the potatoes" on purpose to " wex
her." He would mot even sit in his place at table,-
but " sulked in the corner by the fire-place ;" and
when she went to sweep up the hearth after dinner,
" his fingers itched to be at her so" that at last he
gave her " a soft tap with the tip of 'em " upon the
back of her neck ; and because she asked him " what
that was for," he turn'd to and gave her " a hard
thump on the mouth." Mrs. Goulder took the
hard thump as quietly as she had taken the soft MP;
but nevertheless " he kept up his sulks till bed-time,"
when he told her, " if she " dared to come to bed to
him, he would knock her brains out !" And, of
course, as she was not going to have her brains
knocked out for overboiling a quarter of a peck of
kidney potatoes, she put on her bonnet, and left the
house altogether; and she had never seen her angry
lord and master since, until now she met him before
the Magistrate.
Mr. G., in his defence, admitted that he did feel
much vexed at the overboiling of the potatoes—but
he declared that Mrs. G. had mis-stated the fact; for,
instead of her having been away ten minutes, she
was away more than "a good half hour ;" and he,
therefore, did give her "a bit of a tap" on the
neck—not so much for her neglect, as for " her im-
pudence in making light of it." He added that, "it
was of no use talking," for they were " al-ways at
cross purposes lately," because he would not allow
her to attend dancing-rooms, as she used to do be-
fore he married her.

The MAGISTRATE said, " I am surprised you do
not like your wife to dance ! Don't you know that
dancing is deemed an accomplishment in young
ladies ?"

Mr. G. shook his head ; but made no reply.
Mrs. G., in her replication, admitted that, "being
a young woman what goes out a cotton-winding,"
she was, whilst a spinster, much addicted to danc-
ing; but she declared that she had no wish for any-
thing of that sort now she was a wife; and her only
object this prosecution was "to have Mr. G.
bound down to keep his hands off."
And the MAGisTRATE, having in vain endeavoured
to reconcile them without his interference, ordered
Mr. G. to enter into his own recognizance to keep
the peace.