Star.
London, England, 1824-12-15 00:00:00

.',

MARLBOROUG H-STREET.

CHANGT Or BIGAMY.—Mr. Angelo Benedict resit/man Italian of
very genteel appearance, was examined upon a charge of bigamy. In
consequence of informations sworn at this office on Saturday, a
warrant was issued fur the appi ehension of Mr. Ventura, and Cle-
ments, one of the officers of this establishment, was dispatched to
execute it in Hertfordshire, whete /Jr. Ventura resides. Having
had his warrant hacked by one of the Magistrates of that county,
the officer proceeded in a post-chaise to Shrilly-hill, the seat of Mr.
Ventura, in that county, and having taken hint into custody, brought
him to town, and arrived at this office about 12 o'clock yesterday.
Mr. Antal-mug attended for the prosecution, and the substance of
the evidence against Mr. Ventura is this :—Mrs. Caroine Bart-
lett, the complainant in this Case, and who yvas in attendance, and
gave evidence, was the widow of a Gentleman of that name, much
respected in the county of Hertford, who resided at Shenly-hill, and
died there a few years ago, leaving Mrs. Bartlett in the possession
of his mansion and entire establishntent at Shenly-hill. In
the year I xl9, Mrs. Bartlett happened to be in London, and being
passionately fond of music, employed the present Mr. Ventura, then
a teacher of the guitar, to give her some lessons, which, after a
little time, were changed front lessons of music to lessons of love;
the result of which was, that he and Mrs. Bartlett were united in
the bands of nut,. rimony, at Mary-la-bonne church, in the sante year;
and ever since then, Mr. Ventura had lived and ruled lord para-
mount at Shenly-hill. Of late, howeve:, it appears that Mr. Ven-
tura has began to exercise a tight which Mrs. Bartlett, or Mrs.
Ventura, did not exactly approve of—namely, that of selling of,
and disposing of the whole establishment at Shenly-hill, mangles,'
furniture, an, all, worth in the whole upwards of aelo,ooo. the
splendid furniture alone being worth X 3,000 of that sum. It hap-
pened to come to the ears of Mrs. Bartlett, that a private negocia-
don was actually going on for the disposal of her property; and it
also happened to come to her ears that there was a Lady in existence
who had a better claim to the person of Mr. Ventura than she
had ; and upon proper inquiry she found that both pieces of intelli-
gence were correct ; the latter, inasmuch as Mr. Ventura had been
married before the year 1819, to one Miss Frances Henrietta Col-
born, a young Irish Lady, whom Mr. Ventura had also lulled into a
happy state of matrimony. and charmed to the altar by the sweet
tones of his guitar, having been also an instructor to that Lady in
music, and with whom he got some considerable fortune.
These are as many of the particulars as we could accurately col-
lect, the Magistrate (Sir Gamine FAARANT) having held the exami-
nation in kis private room.
In order to procure the attendance of the first Mrs. Ventura, her
husband was remanded to the House of Correction fur a fu-
ture examination.
Yesterday, Benjamin Buns, the pugilist, and landlord of the Rising
Suo public-house, in Windmill-street, appeared to an information,
charging him with keeping his house open at unseasonable hours,
for the accommodation of other persons than travellep. Burn, in
answer to this charge, contended that he was not guilty upon these
grounds. He said, that for the last three weeks there has been a
gentleman from Cheltenham, who was in town on business, stop-
ping at his house. This Gentleman not only spends a good deal of
money in the house, but also brings a number of respectable persons
there, who also spend money, and are good customers. This Gen-
tleman was about to leave town, on his return to Cheltenham, and
before his departure, he (Burn) wished to pay him and his friends
some compliment, and accordingly invited them to supper on the
night in question. The cloth was first laid for supper in the bar, to
which they sat down about eleven o'clock, when the house was ear
of customers ; but finding the place too small, they moved the table
into the parlour, where they had more room, and there he certainly
did entertain his private friends at his own expense; they drank
about ten bottles of wine, and remained up until the hour stated by
the watchman, but they lade not the slightest noise. As for the
charge of card-playing, Burn declared most solemnly that there
was put a word of truth in it ; cards were neveOntroduced, spoken,
or thought of, as he could prove by the evidence of respectable
tradesmen who-were present. He did not receive, nor was he to
receive, one farthing for anything that was eaten or drank on the
occasion ; he had only done as he thought he had a right to do, as
well as any other man, given an entertainment to his private friends
at his own expense ; and he could not see why a publican should
be debarred the privilege more than any other Gentleman. The
wholecharge, he said, was brought forward, as one bad before been
by Burridge, the watchman, because he (Burn) does not now M
he used formerly, treat him to glasses of rum and gin at any time
' he wished for it.
The Magistrates (Mr. Dm and Mr. Conawr) said, leaving the
charge of card-playing, which, however, had been distinctly sworn
to by two watchmen, altogether out of the question, it was proved
and admitted that tbe defendant had persons drinking in his house
at a most unseasonable hour, who were not travellers, and this was
a direct violation of the Act of Parliament.
Burn said, that he thought ,it a most hush, extraordinary, and
unjust distinction, that a man, because he was a publican, shall not
be permitted to entertain a friend like other people; he always
thought it was the right of every Englishman to treat a friend itt
his own house, and he could not see why he had not as good a right
to do so as any Gentleman or Nobleman in the land. tt In my