Star.
London, England, 1822-04-10 00:00:00

THE POLICE OF THE METROPOLIS.

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Mr.MAINWA RING'S Pamphlet on this subject (pnb- I
)fished in the last Number of the Pamphleteer), con-'
tains much curious information, well deserving of
the attention of Government. According to this
Magistrate, our present system of laws can „go but
little towards the suppression or prevention of thieving,
chiefly owing to our defective Police not being able
to reach the Receiver of stolen goods.

" This system," he says, " has become a science in itself. It
•his opened such prospects, and has been productive of so much
wealth to its professors, as to call forth ingenuity and fore-
sight to a degree which is rarely exhibited in the most artfully
contrived schemes of commercial avarice. I shall best explain
the refinements of these adepts, by a reference to the detail
which has furnished me with the knowledge of their operations.
It should be observe/1, that exclusive of the notorious receivers
of this town, most of whose receptacles are as well known to
our Police ~as the fair tradesman with his calling upon his door,
there is a description of them who combine an unity of different
characters in the same person, who are at once thieves and re-
e :ivers, and who so contrive their machinations, as to exclude
from observation any,point of reachable or vulnerable contact.

" Thieves, as well as receivers, lute various houses Where
Norm:don is received of any important robbery, which is
termed a puf-up Wheu the stolen goods are purchased
by the receiver, they arc inpvdiutely removed from his Psown
ewelling-house to another, termed the plant; which is, in
fzet, his secret ware:louse, and to which the goads capable of
',Ling identified, as well as most others, are conveyed as soon as
parc!n Sec'. Sometimes one house" is used for this purpose by
two cr more receivers; though both are probably connected,
one is generally ignorant of the other's deposit, each having se-
parate locks to their own doors.

" This place is generally kept, or inhabited by a person with
some cstersible occupation, who is cognisant of the purposes
fir whic:: the receptacle is taken, but who is not concerned in
the dealings of those who have placed him there. When a
tabllcry has excited much public attention, the plunder is
hit:ally kept in this 'dant till the general sensation Lis subsided
—then, as opportunities occur, the property is disposed of—it
is conveyed to and 1: oni the plant, by means best calculated to
pr,:vent oirwrveion and detection—in hackney-coaches, little
carts, by p.m ters, upon jack-asses; or by any ordinary means
of carrying goods. The great dealers have their own furnaces
to niCit 7l.te ittll.7;igl: valuable watches, and other goods ca-
ut identity, are commonly sent abroad: watches, if kept
at home are, as they call it, ' stew christened,' (the gold cases
exchanged for silver or common metal); jewellery, trinkets, &c.
disposed of to dealers at fairs, linen to hawkers, wearing Ap-
parel to traders from the country,' who conic to Loudon to
y stec.
" The obvious advantage of this plant is, that wit:lst plunder
lies there in security, and is buried, as they term it, to grate:
the dealers have the opportunity of finding, from time to time,
the most lucrative means of gradually disposing of the secreted
property, and of carrying on their transactions without the ob-
servation of the l'ublic, or the suspicion of the Police.
" Thus it is with these occult and dastard workers of iniquity;
he, who in the prosecution of his criminal purpose sets his life
upon the cast, may, if his throw be unsuccessful, excite an in-
voluntary sympathy but what can we feel for these heartless
miscreants? they who, if nut the authors, are the promoters
of crime, and who, when orce established, keep up the con-
stant stimulus to its commission ; who fatten alike upon the
spoils of poverty or of wealth, and who themselves live the
while in comparative security; or, as the law is, (if punished
at all), have to experience a fate short of that, by which many,
even comparatively children in the ways of sin, have been pre-
maturely sacrificed to the justice of their country. What hu-
man punishment is too severe for these wretches? Is, then,
no:Ling to be cloLe with them ?—yes, if we deal with them
rightly. We have tried law, it has failed; let us then try
Police. It is not eas-y to apprehend, it is very difficult to con-
vict them ; but we may know them, we may become acquainted
with their habitations and their hiding places: let us watch
them, follow them, mark them down wherever they rat; they
must know that we do so : let them constantly [eel this ob-
servance, and we need net legislate against them ; they will
quickly vanish : the eye of Police will he shunned, though the
arm of the law may not be dreaded.
" A most intelligent Officer, who has made these persons the
object of his peculiar attention, has most strongly confirmed to
me the foregoing observations. Ile had tried, he said, every
thing against the receivers; but he added, in his emphatic
language, " Nothing would ever do, buts watching the pit's
mouth ;* do that with constancy, and the receivers fall to the
ground." Need I then ask, if anything but Police eats do this?
or can any harm ensue from the mere vigilance which is hat
recommended r-13ut our limits prohibit a longer extract.

Sunday se'nnight, the Aberdeen prison was broken, when three
criminals confined in it succeeded in effecting their escape.

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At the Limerick Special Se.sions, on the 2d instant,
Eleanor Galligan was put to the bar, for having, on
the 24th of M arch, 'served an unlawful notice on Tho-
mas Ruddell. The following is a copy :
Novrce.—Thomas Ruddell, I totally forgot visiting you
along with the rest of your neighbours, and I do hereby caution
y •u to surrender in to your landlord your holding in Coolruss, or
you must quit your station, or be used as the late Dennis Bowen,
Your doing so Will spare me the trouble of visiting you in a few
rights, Which yes *ell know the difference of violating my
laws. (Signed) " CURIAL Roca,
" Commander-in-Chief of the Roman Race."
She was found guilty. Upon the announcement
*of her fate (says the Freeman's Dublin Journal) by
Serjeant TORMINS, she gave herself up to the most
vij.tent lamentations, which were re-echoed by the roar-
ing of her husband outside of the dock, and it was a
considerable time before order was restored. She was
dressed and comfortable.

ASSVES, •
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oLoucznics, APRIL fl• ,
BREACH OF PROMISE 01? M.A.IIIIIOIL
XI to V. CRAWL • ~
Mr. LUDLOW stated, that the dadatation com-
plained of a breach of promise of smilittea, mg that
the defendant had pleaded the general been. •
Mr. JERVIS addressed the Jury au the behalf of
the plaintiff. They had, he said, heard the nature of
the action which they were sworn to try, and which
was brought to recover damages for one of the most
'cruel injuries which could be inflicted on the sex. He
would, however, restrain his feelings, and state to
them the Eyes, which would be proved in evidence,
with all die simplicity in his power. Miss Mary. Ann
King, the plaintiff, was now thirty-two years of age,
but was only twenty-six at the commencement of this'
disastrous courtship. She was the daughter of a most
respectable man, who obtained his livelihood by the
management of a large factory, at a salary of little
more than £BO a- ear. Mr. Chance, the defendant.
now thirty-eight years of age, and who was thirty.
two when he began to address the plaintiff, was a
Gentleman of considerable fortune, and of fasci.'
nating manners, who had served as a Lieutenant in
the Gloucestershire Militia. Attracted, no doubt, by
the beauty of Miss King, who moved in an inferior
station of life to his own, and who then was success-
fully attempting to add to the scanty income of her
father, by her exertions as a fancy dress-maker, he
early in 1815 began to visit her, and to pay her
marked attentions. Her father, solicitous for the wel-
fare of his child, thought it necessary to demand of
Mr. Chance the meaning of his visits, and that Gen-
tleman offered to satisfy him with all the apparent
frankness and honour of a soldier. On The invitation
of the defendant, they walked together to an inn,
called the Old 13401, where Mr. Chance exclaimed,
,‘ What can I say, or what possibly can I do, more
than I have done, to convince you of my !mlaut ?
May my hand drop from my body, may my tongue
cleave to the roof of my mouth, if ever I deceive you
or your daughter ; and no one but she shall ever call
me husband !" These expressions were strong, but
they were beautiful, for they were taken in no small
'degree from sacred writ. Mr. King, anxious that the
defendant should not rashly pledge himself; reminded
him that his daughter would have no fortune ; to
which Mr. Chance replied, " I desire no fortune but
your daughter—that is all I desire." Mr. King then
observed, that he had a mother and relatives who
probably would disapprove of the connection ; to
which he answered, " I am not a boy ; surely I
am old enough to choose for myself. No; neither
mother, aunt, uncle, nor any other shall make a
choice for me ; I have made my choice, and by that
I will abide." But even on this distinct promise he
(Mr. Jervis) would not rely ; he would read extracts
from a series of letters addressed to the plaintiff
during the whole of the protracted courtship, which
were full of the strongest and tenderest expres-
sions of love. In selecting these, he had endea•
voured as far as possible to avoid wounding the feel-
ings of the defendant, for he stood in that Court
not to gratify the curiosity of an expectant audience,
1
but to obtain redress for unmet ited sufferings.-.
Here the Learned Counsel read extracts from the
letters of the defendant, from August, 181.5 to 1819,
which expressed the warmest affection, and-while they
lamented circumstances which did not permit an 1
immediate marriage, exhorted Miss King to sustain
her spirits in the full assurance that a time would
come when their mutual wishes would be completed.
But in 1319 (continued Mr. Jervi.) his love began to
decline. In that year the plaintiff lost her mother,
on which occasion the defendant addressed to her a
very common-place letter, far different from that
which she might have expected from him on an event
which left her half an orphan. In the F.:bruary after
he wrote to her, intimating that he had no prospect of
marriage, and could not think of bringing on her pe-
nury and wretchedness : but, to his honour, in al-
lusion to her fears least her reputation should suffer
from the breaking off of so long an intimacy, de-
clared that her character was unimpeachable, and
that he would maintain her innocence with his life.—
" Never," said he, " did I witness anything from you
in word or deed which could raise a blush on the
most innocent cheek." What, however, would the
Jury think when they heard, that in May,lB2o, after
more than five years' courtship, he paid her a visit
to inform her that he had formed an attachment to
another Lady, named Maria Evans, to ask her con-
sent to his marriage, and to demand his letters from
her hands? On receiving this cruel intimation she
fainted, and fell into violent hysterics. Her father,
returning home from his daily occupation, rushed
into the room, and supporting in his arms his child,
doubly endeared to him by the lass of his wife, and
by her own sorrows, asked the defendant " what this
could mean ?" Mr. Chance replied, " Ask Mary ;"
but she was unable at first to speak. " My dear
child," laid her father, " speak to me ; what is the
matter?' " Oh father," said she, " it will be the
death of me," and again fainted. When she recovered,
she exclaimed, " Mr. Chance is come here to tell me
himself that he has formed a similar connexion with
another for some time, and to ask my consent to his
marrying her,
-and insists on having his letters." Mr.
King then asked the defendant how be could think
of breaking off a connection which had lasted so long,
and demanded if he remembered the promise made
to him at the inn? " I don't know that I do exactly,"
was his answer. His own remarkable expressions were
I then repeated to him ; but he only said, " I do not
know if it was exactly that." After some time he
begged Mr. King to go to his mother at Uley, and
to tell her that he would never leave his daughter.—
Mr. King accordingly went ; and it was to be feared
that this was only an expedient to procure his absence ;
for after he was gone Mr. Chance was overheard de-
manding his letters of the scarcely conscious woman,
and threatening to break open every lock in the house
if they were not given to Mm. Mr. King returned,
after seeing the defendant's mother, and informed
Mr. Chance that she had refused to hear him on the
subject, as her son had formed a connexion with an-
other Lady. Shortly after the defendant left the
house, and returned no more. In a few days he wrote
a note in the coldest terms, again demanding his let-
ters, and offering to remit those of the.plaintilf,which
he represented as disinterested conduct, best 'calcu-
lated to secure their mutual happiness, On the 9th;

tempt would be now made to cast a shade over the
ammeter of the plaintiff—be knew better the delicacy
of Mr. Puller's mind ; but of this he was sure, that if
all her conduct were subjected to the severe:tier*.
tiny, and all ber letters exposed to the,world, nothing
!timid be found which, in the words of the defendant,
a could raise a blush on the most innocent cheek."—
In estimating the amount of the damages, there wen
many circumstances which they would consider.—
They would remember the age of the parties ; the
defendant of mature years, and competent to decide
for himself; the plaintiff at that period of life when'
a protracted courtship, followed by desertion, was an
irretrievable injury. Those six long years of deferred
hope, could never be compensated in this world. That
.beauty which charmed the defendant had faded ; grief
had forestalled the ravages of time; for, from that mo-
ment when he dared to request her consent to an unholy
union with another,her health had been utterly broken.
Those eyes which he had described in the language
of poetry as of " Heaven's own tint," were dimmed
with weeping; and that heart which had beaten only
with love for him, was exhausted for ever. If he
did her the justice to declare that there was no stain
on her honour, calumny would still be busy, and in-
sinuate that alter so long a connection, she was not
forsaken without cause. -Who would desire to marry
one win) had so long lavished her affections, though
innocently, on another? The torch of love was ex-
hausted, and there was no Promethean heat by which
it could be rekindled. She had anticipated an eleva-
tion in rank ; a participation in the enjoyments which
the fortune yf her lover could supply ; the pleasure
of an alliance with a Gentleman of a profession whose
gallantry and honour justly gave its members pecu-
liar fascinations in the eyes of the fair. For the loss
of these—for an almost broken heart—for ruined
health—for a frame brought to the verge of the
grave—they would give the only balm within their
power to apply, in those ample damages which jus-
tice required at their hands.
.John king, the father of the plaintiff was then
sworn, and examined by Mr. TAUNTON. He stated
the conversation between the defendant and himself
at the beginning of the connection, and the interview
in which at was broken off, precisely as they were
described by Mr. Jervis. ,His daughter was, he said,
in large business as a dress-maker, when Mr. Chance
first paid his addresses; but since he had forsaken
her, she had been incapable of attending to anything,
and her business had therefore declined. She was se
altered as to be unlike the person she once was. The
witness was so mach affected while giving his evi-
dence, that he was at times almost unable to proceed.

Miss Jane Woodward, who was apprenticed to the
plaintiff two months before the connection was broken
off, corroborated her father as to her condition at the
last visit of the defendant, and her subsequent ill-
ness. She had slept with her since, and knew that she
scarcely obtained any repose. .

Eleanor Harris, the maid-servant, overheard Mr.
Chance, after Mr. King had gone to his mother, de.-
manding his letters, and threatening to break open
every door and lock in the house if they were not
given to him. He said he would ask the servant for
diem. Miss King replied it wouldle useless, for she
did not know where they were kept ; and if she did,
she would not give them up to him. Miss King was
in bed all the next day, and had never been well
since. Mr. Chance was in the habit of visiting and
walking out with her up to that evening.
The letters of the alefendant were then proved arid
read : though not without some extravagances, they
were feelingly and elegantly written. The death of
his mother in March, 1821, and his marriage with
Miss Evans, were admitted.
Mr. Morgan deposed that he rented the patrimonial
estate of the defendant at A:400 a•year. On his cross-
examination by Mr. CAMPBELL, he stated that Mr.
Chance was originally a clothier, but had failed in
business, and had afterwards served as a Lieutenant
in the- South Gtoutestershire Militia. After the peace
he was entirely dependent on his mother for support,
and was now tar from affluent.

Mr. PULLER then addressed the Jury in mitigation
of damages. Ile urged that the connexion ought
never to haie subsisted ; that the father ought to have
communicated it to the relatives of the defendant;
that the plaintiff had lost little in a marriage which
would have introduced her into a family who would
have treated her for life with anger and bitter scorn;
and that the issue was only that which might have
been anticipated as the result of a connexion which
could only be completed when a mother was laid in
her grave. He was authorised by his client most
unequivocally to declare, that the conduct of the
plaintiff was above all reproach, and that, if any ca-
lumny had assailed her, it was totally groundless.—
This, he thought, would be a better balm to her
wounded feelings than those damages which she, or
rather her friends, sought to recover. The defendant
was now far from rich, and large damages would
cause his ruin.

Mr. Baron GARROW recapitulated the chief cir-
cumstances of the case to the Jury. It had been
said, he observed, that this connexion ought not to
have subsisted. If the plaintiff had been an artful
woman, older than the defendant, who had taken ad-
vantage of his ardour and inexperience to entrap
him into an engagement, this would be true; but
such was not the case before them. His chief of-
fence, and it was no slight one, consisted in his conti-
nuing to pretend affection to the plaintiff, when he
was actually paying his addresses to another woman.
He had found her in the bloom of life, and in cir-
cumstances of health and comfort; and left.had ber

shattered, forlorn, and hopeless. Tidied not, indeed,
deprived her of the consciousness of virtue, for this
she had herself preserved ; but it was all he had left
her in the world. Damages were an inescient balm
for feelings wounded likelier:: but they were all of
which the case admitted, and these the Jury were
bound to render. They would, however, consider
the circumstances of the defendant, and not press
him, with the probably inuoceat partner of his joy
• ' .and sorrows, to utlitruia. •
The Jury retitid-ter a aliort dais, lad

wife they

the d-

Mr.
from his

fish's
emp_loymeni.
Mr. Serjeant hi stating the facts of the
ease for the plaintiff, as afterlrerds proved in evi.
&nee, said that be did not seek eiorbitaut damages;
the principal object of his client was to suppress the
combination of the riband Weavers in Coventry, by
whom a society had been formed for the support of
those who refused to work for prices less than those
fixed for the various kinds of work, by a list agreed
to between the masters and men in 1818. The de;
fendants were described as the treasurer tad sear;
tary of this society ; the former, Mr. Lilly, had at oni
time been a master riband-manufacturer in Covers;
try, but was now retired from business and lived spoil
his fortune. The plaintiff was a manufacturer, prin:
cipally of what are termed doubles and galloons:
he had not, however, agreed to the list of prices...-.
In consequence of this, his men were enticed, or in•
duced by intimidation, to quit his employment, one
after another, until at length he was unable to meet
the demands of his customers and London agent, altd
were therefore compelled to make their purchases
elsewhere. Bp this means the plaintiff had sustained
a very serious injury, and this injury was laid in the
declaration as the ground of special damage.
No evidence was offered by their Counsel. Mt. Dan.
max on the part of the defendants.
In'ararging the Jury, Mr. Justice Basr thanked
the plaintiff that he had had the nerve to recast the
combination r,f which the defendant, Lilly, hail be-
come the tool ; adding, that he deserved the thanks
i of his fellow-townsmen for bringing this action.
The Jury, which was Special, after consu:ting a
few minutes, returned a verdict for the plaintiff—Da-
mages £5O ; costs 40i.

ink--• 4' "L.
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coimmommisiiikoc. ..t.m.t. Mod NOM' iato Cali* //NO 4-illet for the phiatii
aINsIN. of bilifelorsm Miss tiss.iiisieseaste Data Eight Hs t a Paw&
into the possession of e -coosideriers fortune. He WASIVICIL , _
never, however, redeemed his pledgee, so oisk and IMPORTANT DECISION.—COMNINATItR.
so solemnly repeated ; but, on the *lst of :Tannery VAIIIIIIIOTOV V. LILL" AVO AIOVIIBIL
last, put it for ever out of hh power to do the plain-
ChTahrlt wlll.isllyananacrtnielaivnes, Coventry, for tstforMenlr.
tiff justice, by marrying Miss Maria Evans. No at-
..„, ...ht he now made to cast a shade.over the tising and seduCing the plaintiff's Servants from his
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