Star.
London, England, 1816-10-16 00:00:00

4..

34"4,1

PRICE SI:VEN-PENCE.

Tbat expedient, probably, would lIACr !Le sue effect
now ; but by way of coming at the te;.;niar and re.
speCtable wimess, who can command the credence f
the Jury,• it k very difficult to find such prisons—
such Witnesses do not like to yive away their time,
and others do not like to be seen in such cases.—
Soinetimes A tither who h 45 a child, pint ,bly abused
in such places, Will go through the whole prosecution,
and not site the expense of obtaining a conviction.
But in general, amongst other people in this town,
there is great reluctance to come forward as witnesscs
in s::ch caws.

I: is then yore ofiinion, that unless in a case of a
privAte individual sull..rigg, there is a ellifictill
finding persons of respectable character as witnesses,
whose evidence would be such, its to induce a Jury
to find a verdict against these houseo—As us insure
a verdict of "conviction; I allow there may o. a 11re:it
number of cases in which verdicts have b-en Oven
against such !louses, *tufa great titnnbcr of infamous
women have been turned out of their seats of its.
lanly ; but certairly the witnesses, in almoet every
case, have been of such a description, as ti.bazara
the verdict.

Are many informations bid before your Office
against houses of t.is description ?—Very few.
Do you consider theeibuse of houses of this de.
scription as coating under your conuroul, as Guar.
dians of the Pilfslic Morals ?—Mo...a assuredly, Upon
information. In such cases we should proceed to the
utmost of our exertions for the punishment of such
offeeders : we should tete every exertion to come at,
it possible, the tetCeisary Kittle%Sos, and then tall
upon the Overs:ers of the parish to establish the pro.
sedition, and to look to the expense of the thing,
We have called upon diem at all tithes, to be instils.
mental, as it were, in getting At the best kind of case
to go before the Jury.
If any case was laid before yeur,Office, such as I
have before described, should you not fe.l it your
duty to straiu eery nerve to bring the parties to
justice?—Through duel: and throegli thin, night and
Jay : and I would answer for my worthy Colleagues,
that every power and means within the Police should
be exerted to the abulition of it.
Can you state to the Cominittee at all, to what
amount the expense would go pf bringing to a on-
viCeion a house of ill fame in the metropolis ?—I
should suppose, first, the case of a efrer•cutiots
brought by private persons, who are to hear the ex-
pense: I shall afterwards speak of the expense of a
prosecution brought by the parish. Supposing that
the private individuals- are to hear the expense of the
prosecution, and they were to go to work in the way
to insure conviction, they must, in the first place,
employ an Attorney, and, in the next place, they
should•employ Counsel, which would, I think, be ab.
st•lutcly necessary. They n.ust then collect their wit.
nesses, and' pr sbably they would be attendilig theCaurt
a day or two. Under all .these, circumstances, the
expense would not be les; than 814, £l5, of 111160.4
If the proceeding is instituted by the parish, I think
the charge uhimately to he made by die parish Offi-
cer s, which the parish would have to discharge, would
not be less than &W..
Do you net think that • the expense of attending
these prosecutions constitutes the principal reason
why so few of them are prosecuted ?—I think that is
a strong reason, a very strong one, perhaps the strong.
est. We hate a place in our neighbourhood, vulgarly
called Doek-lane, and the Almonry, where thew
hooks exist ;• we do all we can to roc them down,
'hat private interest too frequently interferes. We
could yearly fill' the gaol with [glue Opole*
of persons of this description.' No one see this
evil without lamenting it; but in some cases it is
impossible to prevent it.
You have stated, that you thick the increase of de.
previty amongst the lower orders of society, is less a
real increase of immorality than an attendent.upee
augmented population younot well recollect Ihilt
20 or 30 years ago there were establishmefsti in thit
isletropolif, which the better morals of the present
day would hardly tolerate ; I mean the establids.
meets such. as the Blue Lion, the 801 l in the Pound,
the Apollo Gardens, the Dog and Duck, the Terns
pie of Fiera, and the Shepherd and Sheperdess; you
remember all these. different estxbishritents, do not
lyou ?—I think nearly the whale olthenr, the Shep.
herd. and Shepherdess 1 cia not 'now recoilf ot : all the
othets I do. I remember the Apollo Gardens, the
Dog,and Duck, and.the -Temple 'of Flora, and a
dreadful eaciety of vagabouds were certa;uly col.
lected together in those places. In that time of day
the character of highwaymen on horseback was a
more frequent character than it has been of hoe
years. I think the horse-pattole of the office at 80.. v.
street has been of a very considerable degree or sir.
vice in putting down that class of depredators; the
character of the highwayman is certainly less heard
of since the putting down these two isifernal places
Of meeting, the D ,g and Duck, and the Temple of
Flora, which were certainly the.trueS dreadtul places
in or about the Metropolis; they were the resorts of
women, not only of the lowest species of prostitutioe,
but even of the middle classes;' they were the r: sorts,
as well of outdoor apprentices•as of every sort of (14.
solute, ptolligate, aed abandoned young men.
Do you remember, that it was' a gere,ral system
in this bletrcipolis some years ago, for the lower or-
ders to amuse themselves with what is Ceded buil-
banking, driving the bull; about the streets ?•—•I t'o
not particelerly remember that ; but 1 have • heart:
that there was a nuisance of that sort, much rikne
frequent than of late years.
Of ail these nuisances' ardly a vestige remains ?
lam happy to think so. • •
Then, in these particulars, there has been a great
improverient ht. the public morals ?—Certainly, a
great improvement, from the vigilanfe of the Ma.
Igistracy as to the curing of these nuisances.
SoMe years back, was it not a general system in
the different streets of, she metropolis, far singers,ao
go about singles most indecent snags I—Certainly.
(To hs continua)

Thei- itepori of the &fee. Committee of tbt House
of Comasips, 'elating to the Whisk forts on the tome
of Africa, nitich has Just ben circulated, affords .
maini..en interesting inhumation on the state of
trade. policy, and natur.il prodoctionsof that country.
'•'lf(ie•p►ir ti nilwitnesit examined before the Committer
was.,#.,Swaritsoirt from whose evidence pat ticulAt ty
We have illadiezeraits Mr. SwAtiaeY states, that so •
iniffildual may trivellietween 2 and 300 miles into
• the iiqfirioe from the Gold Coast, in perfect safety.
- and is en; clearly of opinion, that, to reach the Niger,
the point from which. the 'exploring of the interior of
' Africa shbuld tonSinfnee, is the Gold COW. Mee.
• chants From Hnersee, a• urge town on the Niger,
beymisl where PARK explored. he says, wet* in
tht liabit coming down tothe Gold Coast to trade ;
• the I.,,rroiy then occupied about three months,
ss Slaves," hi adds,, a have been brntiglit down to the
Gold Coast by Ashantee traders, froni a country
called Danco, before the abolition of the slave trade,
Who must-have Come . at least one thousand miles
'from the interior, by the time it was said they occu-
pied in their jouttley." These. Asliantee hides re.
presenled Their own country as excee,lingly fine, con-
taining large quantities of gold' and elephants, cattie
Of all sorts common to other tropical climates, and
• their capital as a place of great extent.
Mr. HENRY Amen. Ansuson. Governor of Dix-
'cove Foit, on the coast cf Africa. to a question put
to him by the Commissioners t,) investigate the state
of the forts and setdenauts on that coast, answers—
' Death is seldom, if ever, inflicted on a persqn, if
hp liave property sufficient tsi pay. Frequently cases,
of a fiery serious nature arise front very trivial
causes. For example, if a person steals a :owl from
*inother, and it isdiscovi red. he to whom the fowl be-
longed takes care to have two nr three (safer persons
.• as evidences ; then it is left in oblivion for two or
Once years. Mien damages are brought, they cal.
culate the number of young or; ;his hisel mlght
lave produced ; and, during the slave trade, whole
'families have been sold to defray the expense ! In
such c ises corporal punishment is seldom toflieted,
-genet. .by pecuniary fines. Accidental injuries are
'comnimily settled by the person paying an equivalent
*tor the injury received."
The Island of Gotee, rn the coast of Africa, is
I.oo2iikttrr. I as situaoi in the territories of Wiwi..
„King of
.Cayor, from whose ancestors the granCwas
;gorikii diy Obtained. From that Fe'ri.td and until 20
VIA s since, the peninsula of Cape Verd was included
fib the dominions of that pri: cc ; but in consequence
of 11,e heavy contribitherns levied on them. and dn.
peing 'thwarts opinions from their feilow subjects,:
16 inhabitants of tl G Peninsula, headed by an able
thiew off the.is allegiance, and etected diens-
'Or's into An independent Republic. They built a
'wall .ieln,s ti•att pert stitch tort's Cape Emanuel. to
defer ef titmselees against,' the King, and fenced it
With suoix•arto n. lismet. assembled a large army
to at?-etc them ; but such wes the superstitious trim
*Of 'llk sacred will, and perhaps tl.e moss rational
dread of the brave and desperate men that were be-
'bind it, that, tb•ingh he remained encamped in its
• ;
vicinity, several weeks, he newer ventured a serious
attack, and from &mine and drsertion amongst his
11.coinisiiied army, was obliged to return discomfited.

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