Star.
London, England, 1823-11-13 00:00:00

_

THE MISERIES OF HABIT.

• II Habits are stubborn things:"
And by the time a man is turn'd of forty,
His ?tiling possins's grown se haughty
• Them is no clipping of his wings!
• The truth will best be shewn
By a familiar instance of "our own :
Dick Strype
• • Was a dear friend and lover of the pipe ;
He used to say, " One pipe of Wishart's best •
Gave life a zest l"
To him 'twas meat, and drink, and physic,
Ts see the friendly vapour
• • Curl round his midnight taper,
And the black fume
Clothe all the room
In clouds as dark as science metaphysic !
So still he smoked, and drank, and crack'd his joke ;
And, had he single tarried,
He might have smoked, and still grown old in smoke :
But Richard married.
His wife was one who carried
The cleanly virtues almost to a vice,
She was so nice :
And thrice a week, above, below,
The house was scour'd fcom top to toe,
And all the floors were rubb'd so bright,
You dar'd not walk upright
For fear of sliding ;
But that she took a pride in.
Of all things else Rebecca Strype
Could least endure a
.Mix
She rail'd upon the filth), herb tobacco,
Protested that the noisome vapour
Had spoil'd the best chintz curtains and the paper,
And cost her many a pound in stucco :
And then she quoted our King James, who saith,
" Tobacco is the devil's breath!"
When wives will govern, husbands must obey:
For many a day
Dick mourn'd and miss'd his favourite tobacco,
And scolded oft Rebecca!
At length the day approach'd, his wife must die:
Imagine how the doleful cry
Of female friends, old aunts and cousins,
Who to the fun'ral came by dozens !
The undertaker's men and mutes
Stood at the gate in sable suits,
With doleful looks,
Just like so many melancholy rooks.
Now cakes and wine ate handed round,
Folks sigh and drink, and drink and sigh,
For grief makes people dry :
But Dick is missing, nowhere to be found.
Above, below, about,
They search'd the house throughout;
Each hole and secret entry,
Quite limn the garret to the pantry ;
In ev'ry corner, cupboard, nook, and shelf,
And all concluded be had hang'd himself !
At last they found him—Reader, guess you where,
'Twill make you stare—
Pt rcli'd on Rebecca's eels, at his rest,
Smoking a pipe of. Wihart's best !

LONDON GA MLST ERS.

An offer of a general disclosure of the gambling sys-
xlm was made Jo a person high in office, by means of an
anonymous letter, in the early part cf last week ; but, as
the Gentleman to whom it was addressed never attends
to communications of this sort, no further notice was
Sakets of the affair until either Weduesday or Thursday,
when the proposal. was verbally made throUgh a third
.person, and after some consideration was finally accepted.
:The principal was subsequently introduced, and pointed
out the tendency of his information, demandiqg as apreliminary measure, that his name should in nowise be
coupled with any ulterior proceedings the Magistrates,
tinder the circumstances, might think proper to adept.
This . condition being considered perfectly reasonable,
was immediately granted, with a further promise of
special protection, should circumstances at any future
period dictate such interposition. On the following
xtioining (Friday), a scroll was exhibited, on which
upwards of two hundred (!) gambling-houses of va-
rious rank and notoriety were described, with a
nuteness and accuracy that none but the most inti-
mate of their visitors could have accomplished. In ad-
dition to the names and characters of the keepers and
servants of those houses, were superadded those of the
persons who chiefly frequent them, together with their
respective callings, whether real or fictitious. Front this
document, topic, are being taken'for the private pos-
smsion,of the different Police Magistrates, wlio will no
doubt apply their information to the public good. It
was at first suggested to publish the whole in the news-
papers, with the view of guarding inexperienced young
men from these haunts of vice and misery ; but, on re-
considering the subject, the former measure was adopted,
as apparently more conducive to the ends of justice, and
affot ding mote ample protection to the Public at large.
It is true, that with such perfect information the po-
lice might, in some measure, destroy there even in the
nest; but it is very well ascertained that they are no
sooner trodden dawn• in one place, than they spring up
in another. Much good may, however, result from a
patient and prudent warfare on the part of the Magis-
tracy and police.

. .
A circumstance is related which is highly creditable
to slue 9f the survivors of the dreadful catastrophe at
13;ncon Colliery, Durham. After the explosion, every
one who was able of course made his way to the
shaft, and eagerly seized the rope which was to convey
him to a more wholesome atmosphere. One man who
had thus secured his own retreat, observed at the mo,
meat of. ascension a little boy within his reach, who
was almost overcome by the choke damp ; he seized
bißky the collar of his jacket, and thus holding him,
gallantly bore him to the surface of the earth—a more
humane or noble action has rarely been performed.
A case of some interest was decided at the last War-
relichire Sessions, between the parish of All Saints,
Der y, appellants, and the parish of Birmingham, re-.
spAndents. C. Johnson, a pauper, was removed, with
five ehildren, to the former parish, claiming his settle-
• .
ment there, from renting, about eight years since, fur-
nished lodgings, for which he paid weekly the sum of
one guinea. The yeiily rent•of the house in which the
rooms were amounted to 321. The appellants case was
ably argued ky Mr. ADAMS and Mr. GinmsukNz; but
the Court decided, that a settlement was gained from
the_rocims being,• exclusive of the furniture, worth 1044

` .rotzti. AITIELZGENOE
• '

) '`.

; . BOW-STREET.
Mr. Scarlatt, tbetbartister, was summonedlestertlay ammistar by
the driVer of to tadney-coach, No. 90, to she eqw why he
Amid not pay the Sum of one shilling and sixpence, due to the
driver aforesaid, for well and truly conveying him, the aforesaid
Sir.-Stariett, in coatis' aforesaid, fitom the.cottrer of• Mitrescourt,
in Fleet-stteet, to a certain messuage or tenement, situate, lehies
and being in a certain street, commoaly called or known by the •
'name, style, and title of New-street, Spring-gardens, at No. 5, in
which street, defendant resides. •
Defendant pleaded that he was not liable, and thereupon issue
waliMrig,Sce(Larlet. t addressed the Court, and contended that the distance
did not entitle the driver to recover the " valuable consideration"
demanded, and endeavoured to bar the plaintiff's claim, by showing
that said Instance did not exceed one statute mile. As neither party '
-was prepared with evidence to prove the precise length of groilad
Sone-over; the. worthy Magistrate ;referred to his maps andatna
passes, when it was found to be so nice a point that he deMed
giving a decision -upon the case, but ordered it to stand over tin an-
ether sitting, in order that the test of the theodolite might be applied
lathe meantime, each party previously paying into Court ss. in order
to oiver costs. We are afraid that Mr. Scarlett has miscalculated.
Yesterday Janc Doilminer, a woman of wretched appearance,
.was brought up for examination on a charge of being concerned in
a robbery lately committed en The premises of Mr. John Hooper,
of Carey-street, Lincoln's Inn-fields, law-stationer, when a quantity
of receipt.and other stamps of the value of £l5O were stolen. No
trace oi the delinquents could be obtained, until the prisoner went
to Mr. Hoaper, and confessed that she had herself been concerned
In the robbery with two men; who gained access into 'the shop by
means of false keys, and that she handed the stamps and paper out
to them, which they carried off in a truck. She said the uneasy
state of her mind had induced her to make this confession, and
that At was willing to tell whO the other persons were that were
concerned in the robbery. Her confession and examination were
of course private ; but we are informed that she has disclosed several
particulars which promise to lead to the- detection of a numerous
'gang of thieves, who for the last 18 months have subsisted solely on
the plunder obtained by breaking opeuflifferent law-stationers shops.
She was remanded.
Five persons,-of suspicious character, who have been in custody
for a week past, on suspicion of being concerned in robbing the
Swan public-house, in Chandos-street, Covent-garden, of a box,
containing money to the amount of XBO, were again brought up, and.
the evidence not being able to attend, they were again remanded.
MARL BOROU G H-ST REET.
A Messenger under the Commission of Bankruptcy issued a'short
time ago against Tkonaas Thurtell, landlord of the Cock, in the
Haymarket, applied yesterday, in consequence of what appeared in
the Papers of that day, to Mr. Dres,' the'Sitting Magistrate, to
request he would rescind an order which had been given by the
Magistrates, of this Office to prevent the removal by any person,
for the present, of a certain quantity of furniture, supposed to have
been deposited by John Thurtell and Joseph hunt at the house,
No. 4, Cumberland-street, New-road, and topiable him, th mes-
senger, to tale possession of the said property, belonging, as he has
no doubt it does, to the bankrupt, Thomas Thurtell, and removed
for the purpose of concealment, from the Cock, in the Haymarket.
Mr. DrIFR inquired, supposing the order to be taken off, how he
could identify or prove the property to be Tlifirhas Thurtell's?
The messenger said, that if the Magistrates would only remove
their prohibition against touching the property, he would take upon
himself to seize it, and would be We to prove by the carrier who
removed it, that it was part of the property of the bankrupt. He
had already seized property which he had traced from the Cock to
Kensington Gravel-pits,- and to the horse in Manchester-buildings.
Mr. Draft said, that he should certainly not Interfere in the trans-
action. The business was in the hands of another Magistrate, Mr.
Conant, Who would be present this day, and to whom he advised
the messenger to renew his.application.
Mr. Daffern, the carrier, of Compton street, Soho, whose cara-
van removed some goods from Probert's cottlige after the murder,
was present, and was served by the messenger with an order to at
tend before the Commissioners to-day.
• GUILDHALL.
A common case of an information for overcharge in the pm--
terage of a parcel of game, but which from the determination of
the coniplainant, and the trouble the defendant had put him to,
had excited much interest, came on for a final hearing yesterday
before Mr. Alderman GA IMATT, who, as the information had been
received by hint, attended to decide thecause.
Mr. Barclay, the brewer, who resides at Bury-hill, Dorking, hall
been so cuntiuually imposed upon by overcharges from the coach
inns, sometimes for carriage, and at other times for porterage of
his baskets of game, that he at, length determined, if possible, to
put a stop to it, and a complaint was accordingly made at this
office against Mr. Eames, the coach. proprietor, White Horse, Fet-
ter-lane. Mr. Roach, a professional gentleman, attended on the
behalf of Mr. Barclay.
The complaint in this instance was, that a basket of game, which
came by coach trom the country to the White Horse Inn, and had
only to be removed into the Dorking coach (which starts from the
same inn), to be conveyed to Bury-hill, was charged with the por-
terage of Gd. 4d. being the utmost extent of charge warranted
by the statute. The clerk who attended the first summons set up
as a defence, that the Durkin; coach from their inn had set off
before the game arrived, and, in order that Mr. Barclay might
have his game as quickly as possible, the basket had been forwarded
to the Spread Eagle, Gracachurch-sreet, to be conveyed to Dorking
by a coach from that inn.
his. Humphries, fo"? Mr. Eames, took two objections to the
werdiag of the infotrnation—first, that it did not set forth the Ward
in which the White Horse Inn was situated, but merely described it
as in the parish of St. Andrew, Holborn. This, he contended, was
nut a legal and seificient crime to give the Magistrate jurisdiction;
and secondly, that Mr. Eames was only described as the coach pro-,
prie•or, whereas, in order to render hiraJiable undentlic statute, he
should have been set forth as the inn-keeper, warehouseman, or
otherwise. As coach proprietor he might have nothing to do with
the parcels beyond conveying them from the country to the inn.
After much lengthened argument, the Magistrate over-ruled Grath
the objections, and convicted the defendant, fixing the amount of
the penalty at 20s. which Mr. Humphries immediately paid.
UNION-HALL.
Daartio Ihonwar Roaazay.—Yesterday, a young and powerful
man, named Philip Joeepta, was brought up in the custody of Pople,
.charged . with having robbed Mr. Patrick Kent:Len, the preceding
day, at the fight on Moulsey Hurst.
Mr. Kellehen stated, that on the day before He went down to
Moulsey Hurst to see the fight between Hudson and Ward, and
while there he was surrounded by a gang of London thieves, among
I whom the prisoner was the moat active. Witness suspecting their
intentions were to rob him, endeavoured to get away, but the pri-
I soner confined his arms and ultimately succeeded in forcing his
'pocket-book from histrowsertporket,whichcontained.C2 Gs. During
the time he was struggling with the prisoner, the latter said, " He
supposed I was some pour d—l who had not got much blunt about
me, but be would soon see that." Mr. Kellehen added, that he was
afterwards knocked down by the gang, and at the conclusion of the
;fight he again saw the prisoner on the ground, upon Whom- be kept
his eye until he' left Molder), for town, and followed him to King-
storthottom, where Pople and ltim were on duty. He pointed
the prisoner out to these officers, who took him husk tpatody in
the prisoner's pocket, besides some ither,was Comte petition from
;some of the pi taceiers coulhied in Maidstone jail, to the Secretary of
State.—He was committed. t
II A TTON- G A R DEN.
Yesterday, a miserable looking woman, named Ann Llonty,iiai
brought from the watch-house, on a charge of having defrauded the
contractor for the dust, by removing some of it from a public dust.
hole, in North.-tareet, Pentonville.
Wm. Dolton, servant to the contractor, state 4 that he saw hes
scraping together a few cinders, which, as she collected, she put
into her apron. The dust-hole he admitted to be lit so exposed a
situation, that any person could get at it without trespassing.
The woman pleaded that foam distress she was compelled Aar