Star.
London, England, 1808-01-20 00:00:00

OLD B.4ILEr.

Monday Joseph We 66 *as capitally convicted ot
4ealing privately in the shop of 'Mr. John Davison,.
a linen-draper at Kensington, tyro pieces of bomba-
zett, v.ilite above 3s.
Christina Pratt and Margaret Smith were tried upon
a capital indictment for privately stealing in the, shop
cf George Daman, High-street, Shadwell, on the
27th December last, three shawls, above the value
51. his property.
Both the prisoners went into the shop together,
under pretence of buying..' and while Smith was en-
gaging the attention ofofthe shopman, Prgtt
„served secreting something under her cloak ; andj
when Smith had bougin some check, merely to cover
their visit by some feasible pretence, both were depart-
ing together, when they were prevented by the shop-
man, who clv.llenged them with the theft, and look
them into the back shop, where Mr. Dollman pro-
po:-:ed a search, and though both at first protested their
innocence, Pratt afterwards acknowledged her guilt,
2114:1 produced the three shawls from her pocket, and
begged forgiveness. The protecutor, however, said
he had been so frequently robbed in this way, he
could not let her pass without making an example—
:nd both were taken before a Magistrate, arid com-
mitted fur trial.

Both prisonersadduced several respectable wiinesses
to their .characters for a period of above 20 years.
Mr. Justice La.warsc observed, that as it ap-
peared the prisoner Pratt Was observed by the prose-
cutor in secreting the property, the capital part of the
charge, that of privately stealing, was obviated—and
as to the guilt of the other prisoner, that must depend
upon the construction the Jury should put on her con-
dnct.—The Jury found Pratt guilty of the larceny
only, and acquitted Smith.
IVm. Efu was indicted for picking the pocket of
.1. Randall of his pocket-book on the 12th of January.
It appeared that the prosecutor was going along Can-
n, n-street, when he was met by the prisoner, with se-
veral associates, who hustled him, when he felt his
watch go from his pocket, and was confidentihe pri-
,,
e prisoner
~, er was the man who took 'it. The prisonergave
1::e watch to one of his companions, who ,but
he was taken into custody. He *wit foundi uilty—
and the Judge informed him that he Was too danger-
ous a character to be allowed to remain in this cow;
5/7.
.'zra.rz.Fitzgtrald and Michel,/ 77arway were indicted
I'r privately :;tealing in the shop *lb( Mr.* S. Burford,
a haberdasher, No. 99, Oxford.road, several pieces
of ribbons.

It appeared, that on Wednesday last, the prisoners
entered Mr. Burford's shop, and asked to look- at
some ribbons. Mrs. Burford was in the shop, and
I.cr husband in the parlour behind. He was called
out by his wife, and in advancing to the isounter,• he
saw '1 hcvzay run out of the shop:. He immediately
to' hold of the female prisoner, and asked her what
the had rot ? She replied, nothing. Not satisfied, he
searched her, and found a piece of ribbon, cnnsistitg
of 19 yards, concealed beneath her apron. The value
of the ribbon was I'2*. By this time the other prisoner
was brought back through;the activity of Imes, an
apprentice of the prosecutor; *ll6 satvhiin 'throw down
a piece of black ribbon. The prisoners were then

taken toAIN/06149191041treet._ Tillest,elffice; a.
here Fitzgerald was
_again searched by an Officer,
who found one tiplee,pipces of ribbon, two of them
rqoseartfally ebnceidedrone'under each grin,:pit. ,The
'thinirViar iiherPOCTiet. 'The piii6 of 'n*Win were
piodheed, 'and the prosecutor mike to them as' hisl
propffety tram 'verious Marks. -From the black ribbon:,
thrqwn away by Theway, oniehalf of the prosecutor's•
private mark had been torn o,ff, but there was enough'
refitainieg to justify him in swearing to it as his pro-j
. • .
•PbTertY'-'
egersild,in defence, • are in a paper, stating,
i
that she lints deaf, and not rent is itpeech. It ateired,
t
that she had .on Tuesday; ast left asliip at Qravesend,
j on beard of. which was her husband.: pi Tuesday',
miller corning to, town, ale &night some Shoes for;
t het husband; and souse pieces of ribbon, to be Sent onj
beard dievessel. She met the other prisoner, in the,
Ceraiesend boat, and wishing to purchase a ribbon
1 for herself, she went into the prosecutor's shop, 'but
• 'before she could make Any purchase, her arms were
aired by Mrs. B. and she. was. searched, and ribbons
' 4tere found upon her,'Which she had bought. the day
I be** at another shop. The man prisoner sea,
', when* was in Mr; B.'s shop, he sivn oat of his ship-
. mates,papahe door. He ran after him, And a piece
of. black ribbon he had bought the day before, to 4e
up his bair;•jumpecl out pf his pocket; and was picked
up by the apprentice. • One witness appeared to the
man's character. • he said he had known him two
monttis.age, when the,prisoner lodged in his house.
He went on board an ,Indiaman. He -never heard
ahy thing to his disadvantage.
Mr. Jnstice LAWRENCE tdld the Jury, that the Priso.l
ners were indicted for a capital offence, privately steal-
ing in a shop or dwelling-house, being so defined by
the law. He thought, however, that the capital part;
of the charge, in this case, was done away,-from the
fact of Mrs. Burford hiving alarmed her husband on
seeing the pieces of ribbon disappearing. The Jury
according found the prisoners guilty of stealing, but;
not privately. - .
The *prisoners were tried on a second indictment,
charging theiii with privately stealing a pair of wa.
meii; shoes, in the shop of Mr. Hall, in Oxford-street,
near the Pantheon. • By the testimony of Mr. Hall, it
appeared, that on Wednesday last the prisoners came
into his shop about three o'clock. He was busy with
some customers, and could not attend the prisoners
until those customers, had gone. lie obserVed, how
.event the female prisoner sit down close to ii glass case,
,containing shoes for women, which was open. When
'he asked her what she wanted, the man prisoner said.
he wanted to purchase a pair of mens' pumps. . The.
prosecutor on this told him he sold nothing but wornens'
shoes, and the rr:soners immediately left the shop.
Foy, the officer, proved having found the shoes pro-
duced, upon Fitzgerald, at the office in Marlborough-
street, at the tame he was searching her on the matter
of the former indictment, and they were sworn to by
the prosecutor.
Fitzgerald, in her defence, stated, that the shoes 11
found upon her were her own property, having been I
bought by her the day before at another shop. The 1
other pnsoaer denied all knowledge of the transaction.
The Jury, under the direction of the Learned Judge,
round them guilty.
The following. were also convicted of felonies, viz.
WilEam Cese4o far stealing a quantity of soap, value
`25- 3d. the.pcoperty of William Whitwell—fined ls.
and dirchargeel; Mary .14nton, for stealing Ils. the
property of Thomas Morgan.
Two vielee convicted ' of misdemeanours, viz. Mi-
ele*/ .fil. for uttering a connterfeit shilling ; and
Messer AN*, for a libel.on•Mr. Allen, fined Is. and
. dischatged. , ' - '
Wipe Wilford, whose- career of fraud has already
appeared in a Report from Marlborough-street, was
aciptitted of a fraud on an innkeeper at tTabridge, by
the misconstruction of the indictment. He was order-
ed tobe sent to Hampshire, to. take his trial on a simi-
tar eharee.
The Following:were acquitted, viz. Ann Charlton,
Mary Ann Thomson, Sarah Shakeshaft, Ann Werrel-
ley, Dorothy Cannon, William Baker, and Henry
smith. And 40 were discharged by Proclamation.
Yesterday, Jo4n Afekalf, :Vary Sharin.7, alias Met-
calf, and Barnet' Benjamin, a Jew, were indicted for
stealing a quantity of linen, the propery of Jeffrey
Hart tent, Esq. a Barrister of Lincoln's Inn.
The Butler of Lincoln's Inn swore, that on the
'6th of November last, he made up a parcel of /.Ir.
Bent's linen, which he put into a box, locked by Mr.
B. and roped. It was directed to Mr. B.'s father,
and consisted of shirts and neckcloths. He took it
to the Spotted Dog, in the Strand, where the box was
booked by Mr. Lettice, the landlord, who in turn, and
as is usual, delivered it to a boy name Littlefield, who
conducted a parcel cart, in order to the box being con-
veyed to the White Horse Cellar, for its ultimate de-
parture to its destination. The boy stated, that when
he got to the White Horse Cellar in Piccadilly, he
took it out of the cart, and put it on the table in the
Cellar ; being. obliged to go down
.again. with some
casks of liquor, he had also carried in the cart, the
box had disappeared. .. •
• Mason, Armstrong, and Bishop, Police Officers,
severally described their going to Metcalf's house in
Red Lion Market, leading tolVhitecross-street, Arm-
strong went in first, and in a back room he saw the
three priseners, and a large quantity of linen on the
floor. He asked them whoF property the linen was?
TO which Metcalf replied it was lint his (Metcalf's).
,Armstrong then took up each article, and sheaved
them to the prisoners in succesion, interreg.dting them
whether they were their's ? when they all disclaimed
them. Bishop stated, chitin the back room, between
the blaakr on a bed,he found.two shirts, aad,.hang-
.
ing overt e back of a chair in the front room, a shirt
I and a neckcloth airing before the fire....
The linen was then produced, and Mr., Bent iden-
tified
it'all as his eroperty.
Metcalf, in hit defence, said that-he had been out
that morning, and when he came home, he found the
linen, which had been left by two men for Mr. Ben-
jamin.--Benjamin stated his having been sent foe to
look at the linen, in order- to his purchasing it.. He
denied all knowledge of the, robbery. The Jut, 'after
a charge .froin the Recorder, found the priioaenre—
Guilty.
Joseph Benjamin and Barnet Benjamio, were also
convicted of stealing three.listen sheets, a tablecloth,
and various other articles, the property of Getirge
Graham.
R. I#WI was indicted far stealing, OR tht.night of .
the 6th of November,floin joihri Bateii; ail' eriailet:•

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sia.-10)401dotridt* ilateeltla**-1004.1 sighe°l4
ttrM *lsoe9Fellk. Inestgeg 1 WetkfAllY .1
.hiret.haliKe.,-.sfor aMgis,„mat,zt 440#11Pe,
-in • eat' to edPtim-streer,le islassmteil rb_y_tuy
friaoher, - - siiiiiiithßlikiliiiill:' t --Mfbit4.prer.v-=••
-.Bliley intiVentdv• iiii *sit Ittlifti . ChefeltdagarT,-*hil 1
. woahl skiff bisa.-:, :11114-i_hactklne bats :aunt. ry,,
when the witipqr mod,
.Ahe kcit, AO ileDitiakairritbe!
plates., foi Inn, When 401ex...50t w; ,Spetygnptitu-,
street, the'bett told -die prisoner mast g 9 that Way":
and they froCeedid:;--cinien-ilid'prOtttk 'idtr. clUird,,
saying, og there. 1. 'nor 'plittes,i'.• and - inlitantlYtin :
,awAy. !libe boy; calmed himionid be: nts Jtake4but .
the plates. were not found. -T y maul* ukststal,
that slihilesilie prisoner w,as,WA VA ,!ym.,/te,, 5.14 r
tie
denly nis,sed the'plites : and asks the prisoner where ,
i'they•Viere ? He sahltieysi'ere'ludeir hks!cont.-- . He
observed also, a man yr/dicing efongsidek - tttibern .-ffir
some Aimp, but he. did-not meehint afterlide...inisoner
fell. mul;tlre plates !fete *en. awax.-•;1 Theapriaoser
Made nqdefence, but called,two wit ikesoes: tpAla
ract6.; oio gave hhn agoOd one.—QuilV. i .
'' Molnar Bray was intitcticl for recervki,-Vnini'iot
it to be stolen, 401 b. weight of black dachfilimil; *elite
upwards of 401. the nroperty_of Messrs. Baltage and
Pilgrim, merchants, on the 15th .of Dece er., ,the
-sail pro. petty. hiving been •btirglarioitSly ;t9ii.lii tiop
Ott proiecutors'-prenuses on the light of the Vtli (1!
December. _. , , . •
. It appeared in •evidence, that the: prisoner, aft
wikh another man named ltelNrr„,gsaksi .. a tallow-
chandler; at IN'hitecrosistreet, St. Jaiki:,s-,,, had been 1
seen, on the day mentioned in the halkonent, cora-
ling out of the Baker and gasket publk-house, Bar-
: tholomew-Close, by. two Citscontriliouse Offieers,inith
a It 3 each, tilled with some commodity, under their
arms. Suspecting by their manner, the, officers
thought it was some smuggled property then had in
their possession; . they therefore followed them till
they came to-Aldersgate-street, when they lest sight
' of the prisoner Bray ; they however followed Potts;`,
who soon after Went-into a pablic,house, Cloth Fair,
in company with another man. They followed him
into the public-house, seized the bag, and took the
prisoner into custody, and carried hitn •to a place of
security, while they left the bag of cochineal at the
Custom-house. They then went together in put:suit.
of the prisoner Bray ; but lie was successful in 'elud-
ing the pursuit, and got rid of his. bag, From the
information of the prisoner, by Potts; an officer,
named Cartwright, went to his house, bin found- he
had absconded ; however, in three weeks aftersVikrds,
he was met in the street and secured; and carried -be-
fore the Lord Mayor.
The prosecutors thought proper to Indict the pri-
soner only •on the minor charge,-•of receiving the
goods, .knowing them to be stolen. -'• its was alsd
deemed prudent to receive Potts, the accomplice, as
King's evidence against Bray, he being considered
as. the least culpable oldie two offender's. •
Potts stated, that in consennence of a plevhms ap-
pointment, he met Bray at the Baker and. Basket
public-house, on the day mentioned-in the indictment,
1 where they were locked up together in a room, and
the prisoner Bray produced a large tag of cochineals
which he separated into two portions, and put them
into different bags, a small and a large one, the lat-
ter of which he took himself, giving • the former to
Potts, desiring him to follow the prisoner Bray. • •. -
With respect to the identity: of the cochineal, a
gentleman named Thompson, who is the City Gar-
, bier, stated, that from the long experience he had in
sifting and garbling the cochineal that entered the'
i Port of London, he could . take upon himself n
swear, that the bag of cochineal produced in Court,
I was the same of which he had garbled a specimen for
the prosecutors in the West India Docks. .
___

The prosecutors stated, that their house had beet
broken open on the 13th of December, and swore to
the identity of the cochineal produced, and added, in
-confirmation of that opinion, that the bag stolen from
their house, on the night mentioned in the indictment,
was the only bag in their warehouse at the time.
Mr. ALLEY and Mr. KNAPP contended, on the part,
cf the prisoner, that it was impossible to substantiate
the identity of the cochineal in question, unless indeed
there was some other concomitant circumstances, t(
bear out the charge against the prisoner. The testi•
mony of the accomplice, Potts, it was contended,
ongln not to have any weight, because he was a ver
bad character.

Ti:e In:count:a summed up the evidence for thi
Jury, who 'pronounced the prisoner—Guilty.
It appeared that this prisoner has been before con•
victed, and transported for a similar offence. •
Charlotte BrOWII and Sarah Hick: were indicted fin
stealing in the dwelling house of John Smith, a silVer
watch value 50s. the property of George Barden, or
the 31st of December last. •

. .
The prosecutor is a journeyman shoemaker, hak
been locked out of his lodgings that night, and being
fatigued, about six in the morning went into a fiulplic•
house called the Black Dog, in Broad St: Giles's, tool
a pint of porter, and fell fast asleep ; the prisoners
• who were in the adjOining seat, oberved lihn, tool
advantage of his situation, ant took big watch from hi;
. fob ; they went off; bat wca.e. shortly aft: wards apr re• I'
• hended by means Of a black man, who saw them corm
mit the theft. Dttifty of Stealing to the value of S9s,
The fonewing were also convieA of felony, vri.
•1. Houndle, for stealing several d:.-als, the- properr
•of J. Weston I Ann Oram, for stealing a tea-spout
the pmpertY of. W: Sumner ; J. Maynard, for stea.
i ing four shirts, &c. the property' of C. Cliff; Lydi
1 Martin, for stealing several silver spoons, &c. tl
l property of W. Anthony ; J. Kyde; for stealing tv
'. tea trays, the property of J. Turner ; Mary Gay, '
stealing .a coat, the property of M. Johnston ; Mary.
Ann Walton, for • stealing -,everal gOwns, &c. tht
property of Ann Mallen.

On Saturday. evening as General hfutotAy was ei
terin:London 601 the, country, a large trunk .w:
out from Its carriage' in Oxford-street, or Hollora.

Fluss.--Saturday. morning', Mr. Driver's oil mi
in Queen-street, Southwark, was discovered to be
fin, when a greed, part of the stetini-engine and other
buildings were destroyed. In the afternoon, anothi.„
fire broke outon board of, the brit Mary Elicit. and
Elizabeth, ,Captain F01.0E14, in Liinehouse Reach,
randy to sail.with.a cargo forthe.asores, which burnt
PRI of t4o oahiatand deck, anddid considerable da-
mage to the rigging, occasioned by the funnel of the
cabin fire-pla.ceoaly passing half way through thedeck