The Sun.
London, England, 1829-09-11 00:00:00

BOW-STREET.

Yesterday a gentleman who announced himself as
a clergyman► on a visit at present in London,
waited upon the sitting Magistrate, Sir R. BIRNIE,
and said he begged to call his attention to a letter
which he had received from a clergyman and a ma-
gistrate residing near Penzance, in Cornwall, de-
scribing a most extensive system of fraud which had
been carried on in that neighbourhood by a person
who, under colour of his profession as a solicitor,
had contrived to obtain possession of money intrust-
ed to his care to the amount of 30,0001. or 40,0001.,
with which it was supposed he had decamped to
France or elewhere. The gentleman then handed
to the Magistrate the letter in question, of which
the following is a copy:—

" Sept. 5, 1829.
" My dear W.,—Before you receive this, no doubt you
will have heard of the shocking and villainous conduct of
Samuel John. He has quitted the kingdom, after having
robbed this neighbourhood of 30,0001. or 40,000/. You
may suppose that confiding in him as LW for transacting
all my business, I have not escaped unhurt, but I am
happy to say, that the amount of my lo,s will, I believe,
be very trifling to what might have been, or what I was
at first led to expect. I placed unlimited confidence in
im, for he was under obligations to me, of which he al-

ways appeared sensible. I trusted him more than I ought
to have done, and I cannot help thinking that he had a
little conscience towards me, otherwise he might have ruined
me. As it is, he: has committed four distinct forgeries
in my name on the two Banks here, but for these I do not
consider myself answerable. He has besides anticipated
some of my rents, not to mention other iniquities. The
whole amount of my loss I cannot as yet ascertain, but in-
dependently of the forgeries, I have reason to think that
it is not much. He has defrauded Stephens of Ludgvan
of 10,0001., carrying on a system of forgery and deceit for
the last ten years, keeping a debtor and creditor account in
an imitated hand, as if it was the banker's book, and giv-
ing Stephens credit for 6,0001., which he had drawn by
forgeries, while in fact he had drawn every sixpence out,
excepting about 4001. Such a continued system of
knavery and deceit I never knew of. How the man could
in any way enjoysociety is most astonishing, for a hundred
circumstances might have occurred every day by which he
might have been detected and brought to the gallows. It
appears to me most extraordinary that any man in his
senses should have committed such daring and extensive
frauds with the many examples that are daily before his
eyes ; but that this man should have been so long engaged
in such a system, carrying on an appearance of open frank-
ness and honest upright conduct, is indeed incredible."

The remainder of the letter being of a private
nature, Sir R. BIRNIE returned it to the applicant,
observing that it was indeed one of the most exten-
sive cases of fraud he had ever heard of.

The applicant said that his object in troubling Sir
Richard was that some means might be devised to
endeavour to detect the fugitive, who,. although re-
ported to have left the country, might at this mo-
ment be in London, with a view to carry on the
same system of fraud in the metropolis which he
had practised but too successfully at Penzance.
Sir R. BIRNIE told the gentleman that he was
quite ready to afford every assistance in his power
that might lead to the detection of so daring a de-
predator. He then requested the applicant to give
a description in writing of the person of the accused,
in order that it might be circulated through the me-
dium of the Police Gazette.

The applicant said he was quite ready to adopt
any course at all likely to assist the ends of justice.
He then mentioned that Samuel John, the person
charged, was rather a low-sized man, but most gen-
tlemanly and insinuating in his manners. He had
acted as clerk and steward to the writer of the letter,
and he had, besides, been the confidential agent of
several gentlemen of large properties in the neigh-
bourhood of Penzance.

The applicant baying written a detailed descrip-
tion of the person of the accused, took his leave,
Sir R. BIRDIE requesting him to call again in a few
days.
Mr. Moore, the eminent hatter at the corner of
Bond-street, Piccadilly, waited upon the Magistrate
in the course of the morning, accompanied by a re-

spectable-looking man, whose face exhibited se►•era
marks of violence, with a view to obtain advice rim
assistance under the following aggravated circum
stances of combination and violence amongst a pm
tion of his workmen.

Mr. Moore was the proprietor of an exten,•iv.
hat-manufactory about seven miles from Bristol. 01
Monday night last, without any apparent cause,
about 28 of the men employed at this manufactory
struck for higher wages, and immediately proceeded
to acts of violence. They began by beating those
men who had declined to join their lawless pro-
ceedings, and several of the workmen had received
serious injuries. Three of them, after having been
beaten most dreadfully, were thrown neck and heels
into a pond, and nearly suffocated, and the man now
present, and who as foreman had the direction of
the works, was also beaten in the most brutal man-
neer, as his bruises would show. Mr. Moore added
that he had been to the Home-office to state the
circumstances of the outrage to the Secretary of
State, and had seen Mr. Capper, who, after ex-
'pressing his regret that nothing could be done in
the business, advised him to remove his manufactory
to a part of the country where such acts of outrage
could be at once repressed. This advice he (Mr.
Moore) was fearful he should be obliged eventually
to follow, and he could not but consider it very hard
that he should be obliged to abandon his property
as if it was situated in the wilds of America.
Sir B. BIRNIE asked if the men who had turned
out had assigned any reason for it.
Mr. Moore replied that they had not. They were
sad fools to themselves, for the consequence of their
violence would be, that they and their families would
lose the means of subsistence.

Sir R. BIRNIE asked the foreman if he thought
he could identify any of the persons by whom he was
attacked.

The foreman thought he could swear to eight o:
:hem.

The Magistrate then advised Mr. Moore to have
these men apprehended and prosecuted, both for the
assault and the combination, at the Quarter Sessions.
It would be highly proper that such a prosecution
should be instituted without delay, in order to show
the rioters that the law was not to he braved with

impunity.
Mr. Moore asked if he might have the assistance
of an officer from Bow-street.

Sir R. BIRNIE told him he could have two or
hree if he wished it.

Mr. Moore said, that upon that understanding he
should certainly act upon the Magistrate's advice, and
then retired.

MA RLBORO U GH-STREET.

A respectable. looking man, who on this occasion
gave the name of William Thompson, but whose
real n.ime is known to be William Twighl, who has
been in custody for several days on the following
charge of robbery, was brought before Mr. RoE, the
sitting Magistrate, for final examination.
Mr. Henry Provis, an elderly gentleman, residing
in Buckinghamshire, but having considerable pro•
perty in houses in London, stated, that some time
ago he had a house, No. 36, in George-street,
Hampstead-road, belonging to him, which he was
desirous of letting in an unfurnished state; and while
waiting to procure a tenant for it, he placed an
elderly respectable female, named Ann Baker, whom
he had known for some years, and of whom he en-
tertained the best opinion, in charge of it, having
furnished one of the apartments for her to reside in,
arid told her, that when the house should be let he
would make her a present of the furniture of the
room for her trouble in taking care of the house.
After some time had passed away without any te-
nant offering for the house, the woman Baker pro-
posed to takeit herself, arid said, that she had no
doubt but that she should be able to make it answer
by letting it out in separate tenements to persons
who would furnish the apartments for themselves.
He (Mr. Provis), wishing to serve the woman, did
let her the house as a yearly tenant, at GOl. a-year
rent, but in a few weeks she began to complain of
not being able to let any part of the house, but said,
that there could be no doubt of her success if she
could furnish the place and let it out in fur-
nished apartments, as she had several applications for
furnished rooms, but none for unfurnished ones.
Thinking that the woman was really not only in-
dustrious but honest, he furnished the house very
handsomely for.her, and in this state he let it to her
at 701. a year rent. The house thus disposed of,
he (Mr. Provis) went to the country. On his re-
turn to town, be went to pay a visit to his tenant
Mrs. Baker : to his great astonishment, he could
see nothing of his house, No. 36, in George-street,
nor any house that bore the least resemblance to it
externally ; he at first thought that surely he must
have got into the wrong street, but finding this not
to be the case, he bad recourse to a neighbour,
whom he requested to direct him to what once was
No. 36, in that street; the neighbour pointed out
the house to him, hut even after this he (Mr. Pro-
vis) could scarcely believe that it was the same
house, so totally altered was the external appear-
ance of it in every particular. He, however, knocked
at the door, but as there was not, it appeared, a
living soul in the house, he might have continued
to knock to this day without an answer. At last
lie gained admission to the house, by having the
street door forced open, when to his amazement he

found the whole place, from top to bottom, stripped
of every article of furniture, and nothing whatever
left remaining but one solitary poker that stood by the
kitchen fire-place. He now inquired about the neigh-
bourhood to know if he could learn what had become
of the woman Ann Baker, or his property that he had
confided to her care; but he could gain no information
on the subject until he was referred to Mr. Lamb, a
surgeon in Carmarthen-street, Fitzroy-square, who
informed him that he had seen the prisoner Thomp-
son, who had been a lodger of Mrs. Baker, carrying
away furniture from the house. With this informa-

tion, he (Mr. Provis) applied at Bow-street, to the
Magistrates there, and a statement of the robbery
was published in the daily Police Report from that
office, but nothing was heard either of the pri-
soner Thompson or Mrs. Baker, until a few days
ago, whe❑ Thompson was accidentally met with in
the street by a person who knew him, and taken into
custody. No account, however, was as yet had of
Mrs. Baker, and until within a day or two it was
still feared that she had been destroyed to effect the
robbery, but it was now known that she was some

where about town; and as there was no longer any
doubt of her having sanctioned the robbery of the
house, a warrant was issued for her apprehension.
Mr. Lamb, the surgeon, said that he had been em-
ployed on some occasions to visit the woman Baker,
at the house in question, professionally, and that at
one time when he called for that purpose, he saw
the prisoner Thompson removing some of the furni-
ture from the house.

Two other witnesses also deposed to their having
seen Thompson carry away furniture from the house,
Mrs. Baker being in the house at the time.
A carrier deposed to having conveyed the furni-
ture to various places for sale by the directions of
Thompson, and several brokers proved that many of
the articles of furniture now in their possession, and
identified by Mr. Provis as belonging to him, had
been sold to them by the prisoner Thompson.
While the depositions of the different witnesses
were being taken down by Mr. Bishop, the clerk,
information was privately brought to the office, that
the woman, Ann Baker, was then sojourning at a
neighbouring public-house,awaiting the result of the
investigation as regarded Thompson, and an officer
being forthwith despatched to take her into custody,
she was in a few minutes brought in, and placed by
the side of Thompson at the bar, when they ex-
changed looks of mutual displeasure at each other.
The whole of the evidence was then read over to
both prisoners, who, by the advice of a solicitor at-
tending for Thompson, declined saying any thing in
their defence, and they were fully committed for
trial on the charge of robbing the house.
A boy, about 12 years of age, was committed for
trial, charged with picking the pocket of Sir George
Farrant, the Magistrate, in Grosvenor-square, about
one o'clock yesterday afternoon. As Sir George

passing through the square he felt a slight touch
tr hi, volt pocket, and turning round he observed
i,orier close behind him, and immediately sus-
.re; snmell,ing •Nrong, he tilt for his pocket-book,
ind dirt it was gon,. George then in-
: air ly prisocer, and on searching him
(wild his pocki.i-b ink rely carer:illy stowed away in
the prisoner's trousers-pocket.
The pocket-book, besides other papers, contained
two notes of the Bank of Rye, in Sussex, for .51. each.