The Sun.
London, England, 1829-06-25 00:00:00

personal property are not idle. No places afford
better opportunity to the exercise of the enter-
prising talents of the long-fingered tribe. They
are schools of practice, where the principles of
tine " art" are applied with the greatest success,
and the " march of rapine pursues its course of
refined improvement. AU this goes on while
the officers of police walk about the streets in
their scarlet waistcoats, and while the ac •
tivity and intrepid resolution of our street-
keepers are displayed in putting beggars hors de ,
combat, and storming the quarters of old apple-
'women. A scene which occurred at a police-
' office the other day served to give some idea of
the great profits which the keepers of mock-
auction rooms realise by their ingenious trade, as
well as to sho.v with what barefaced audacity the
work of plunder in this line is carried on and
avowed. Two of those fellows, from " profes-
sional rivalry," quarrelled, and one of them sent
emissaries to make a disturbance at the rooms of
the.other. Afracas ensued, which was follow-
ed by a charge of assault before the Magistrates.
In the course of the proceedings one of these
fellows stated that he paid a rent of 3001. a year
for the rooms in which he carried on the busi-
, ness! So successful is fraud in this age of gul-
libility ! He admitted that he was in the habit
of " catching fiats," and twitted his rival by
asking him if he wanted to know whether he
caught as many flats as himself. Had this fel-
low been a petty thief, charged with some mi-
serable larceny, and pleading starvation as his
excuse, he would have been sent to prison with-
out remorse ; but being a " man of property"—
no matter how acquired—and plundering the
public on a " liberal scale," he could admit
that his trade was " catching flats ;" that is, rob-
bing all simple people who fell in his way with
perfect impunity ! Why is not the law carried
into effect against those mock-auction rooms ?
why are they not suppressed ? The law, as it
exists at present, is strong enough to do it.; but
the apathy, the supineness, or sonic still more
culpable motive on the part of those who ought
to carry the law into execution, causes those
nuisances to flourish, to the great disgrace of the
police of the metropolis.—Morning Herald.
The proceedings in Parliament yesterday were
not wholly confined to its prorogation, and the
address delivered on the occasion ; for Mr.
Otway Cave, who has hitherto manifested a most
laudable zeal for exposing abuses and advocating
the interests of the many instead of those of the
powerful few, made an able and eloquent speech,
which we recommend to the attention of our
readers, on the total ignorance in which the
country has been kept of the real state of its
foreign relations—the general distress of the
country—and the utter apathy which has been
manifested, by what has been sometimes termed,
" his Majesty's opposition," to any discussion
which was not likely to be relished by his Ma-
jesty's Government. On all these points we
shall have something to observe to-morrow. If
there be no direct understanding between the
ministerial and opposition benches, as is gene-
rally alleged, the conduct of those who sit on
the latter has certainly been such, for months
past, as to give no slight semblance of probabi-
lity to, at all events, the existence of a tacit
agreement.—Mornina Advertiser.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.

BOW-STREET.

Yesterday evening a respectable young man,
named Richardson, who keeps a soda-water establish-
ment in the Haymarket, and also one in Cranborne-
street, was charged before Sir B. BIRNIE, with as-
saulting Major William Charles Green.
The Major stated, that at about twelve o'clock on
the previous night, he was standing under the por-
tico of the Haymarket Theatre, engaged in conver-
sation with the defendant's wife, when he (the de-
fendant) came up to him, and, assuming a threatening
attitude, held out his arm, apparently with the in-
tention of striking him (the Major); and, fearing
that he wouli put his design into execution, he (the
Major) called the watch, and the defendant was
taken to the watch-house of St. Martin's.
Sir R. BIRNIE asked the complainant if the de-
fendant had struck him ? He certainly did not
strike me, replied Major Green. •
" What is your account of the matter, Mr.
Richardson ?" asked the Magistrate.
The defendant, who appeared to have suffered in
the encounter, said, " I am a young man, your Wor-
ship, and having been rather unfortunate in life, I
entered into business, and keep two shops for
the sale of soda-water, ices, &c. About three
weeks ago a neighbour informed me that the
visits of Major Green to my shop in the
Haymarket were very frequent, and . generally
took place when I was absent and when my
wife was at home. At first I did not credit the
report, nor would I until another friend assured me
that he saw my wife and the Major together in a
glover's shop. On the evening of the day that this
was reported to have occurred, I ascertained the
truth of it, for I found that my wife had obtained six
pairs of gloves, a present, as I naturally concluded,
from the Major. In consequence of this, my suspi-
cions were aroused, and I determined upon watch
ing my wife, who I had reason to believe was visited
by the Major at one or other of my shops when 1
was absent. On Monday evening last I discovered
my wife and the Major in close conversation to-
gether near the King's Theatre, which is no great
distance from my shop. I immediately went up to
them, when my wife, perceiving me, ran away. I
was about to demand an explanation of the Major,
when he assured me that he merely met my wife by
accident, and was speaking to her about indifferent
subjects. Although by no means satisfied with this
explanation, I said nothing, and went away. Last
night, about ten o'clock, however, I was sitting in
the par!our of my shop in the Haymarket, my wife
being behind the counter, when the Major en-
tered the shop and whispered in her ear suffici-
ently loud for me to hear him, Meet me to-night,
my dearest, under the portico of the Haymarket
theatre, at twelve o'clock.' I pretended not to have
overheard this appointment, but determined to be
present, and at twelve o'clock I went to the place
of rendezvous, and there saw my wife lolling upon
the Major's arm. Being naturally extremely angry
at this, I went up to the Major, and holding out my
arm, I exclaimed, By —,Major, if I find you
coming to my shop in future, after what I now
know, the consequences will not be agreeable to you.'
This was all I said, and all I did, when the Major
immediately struck me a violent blow upon the
head with a stick which he carried, and felled
me to the ground. Upon my attempting to rise
he again struck me in the most brutal and cow-
ardly manner, and some half-pay officers who were
present, and who I suppose were his friends, en-
couraged him, exclaiming, Go it Major ! Give it
him well, he is nothing but a shopkeeper,' or words
to that effect. In endeavouring to wrench the stick
from the Major's hands I received this injury," con-
tinued the defendant, showing one of his wrists, the
tendons of which were nearly cut through. "My
hat also," added Mr. Richardson, " will prove to
your Worship the violence with which I was
assaulted."
The hat was here produced, and appeared to be
cut through in three places.
The defendant then continued—" I was nearly in-
sensible from the blows which I received, and had
only sufficient strength to call the watch and
give the Major into charge. Upon arriving at the
watch-house, I observed the Major whisper the
watchmen in whose custody he had been, and they