Star.
London, England, 1819-06-01 00:00:00

OLD BAILEY SESSIONS.

Yesterday a young woman of an interesting ap-
pearance was charged with stealing
.a scarf, value
18s. in the shop of James Craig, linen-draper, in
Holborn. The evidence was clear against he:. She
was the servant of a respectable Solicitor in the neigh-
bourhood of Russell-square, and had been sent out
on an errand when she committed the robbery. A
great many respectable witnesses gave the prisoner
an excellent character, and among them were her
master and mistress, who declared their readiness to
take her agaia into their service.—The Jury found
her Guilty, and strongly recommended her to mercy.
The itaconuait fined the prisoner Is. and ordered
her to be given up to her mistress.
The prisoner was brought into Court, supported
by two turnkeys, and a chair was provided for her.
During the whole time she, was dreadfully affected,
and kept her face covered with her hant.kerchret.
True bilis having been found by the Grand Jury
against William and Charles Crowder, father and sun,
upon the charge of stealing a parcel, which came by
the Worcester coach to the Bull and Mouth Ina, on
the 29th of March last, they were put to the Bar.—
The indictment alleged that they had stolen Bank
notes, bills of exchange, and other securities, to the
amount of seven thousand pounds and upwards, the
property of Sir Anthony Lechniere, Thomas Farley,
and others, of Worcester, and in the dwelling-house
of Edward Files, of Bull and M outh-street. 'lhe
parcel, it may be remembered, was addressed to the
banking-house of Sir W. Cul tis, Bart. and Co.
Mr. ALLEY, on the part of the prosecutor, made
a motion to the Court, founded upon affidavit, to
postpone the trial of the prisoners till the next Ses-
sions. The principal grounds of the affidaVit were,
the absence of an important witness, named Robinson.
The prisoners Counsel urged the necessity of pro-
ceeding with the trial ; but the Court, after some dis-
cussion, assentedto Mr. ALLEY'S motion, and the pri-
soners were remanded till next Sessions.
John Coulton was indicted for unlawfully inter-
marrying with one Margaret Evans, his former wife,
Elizabeth England, being stiil
The evidence against the prisoner was, that in the
month of September, 1799, he was married to one
Elizabeth England, at the church of St. Mary-le-
Strand. On the 3d of February, in the present year,
he was again married
,to Margaret Evans, at the
parish church of St. Pancras. The regiAers of these
ceremonies were put in, and the hand-writing of the
prisoner proved. That of his former wife, Elizabeth
Eugland, was also certified, as was also the fact of
her being still alive at the time of the prisoner's
commitment.
The circumstances connected with the second mar-
riage were a little singular. Miss Evans, it appeared,
who was entitled to some property, had, on a rainy
diy, about six months previous to the marriage, ac-
cidently uset with the prisoner in the street—he of.
fered her the covering of his umbrella, which after
some hesitation she accepted. He accompanied her
a considerable distance to her home, bestowing upon
her in warm terms much compliment, urging strong
prniessions, and finally entreating to see her again.
The lady, in order to get rid of his importunities,
made a promise to meet him, but failed in doing so.
Chance, however, again threw him in her way, and
an acquaintance imperceptibly arose between them,
which after a courtship of nearly six months, ended
in their union. tier friends, at this time, refused to
advance her any property, promising, however, to se-
cure it to her, according to the way in which her
husband should conduct himself. After residing to-
gether " rather more than three weeks, but not quite
a full honey-moon," he left her one day, taking with
him her valuable watch, and promising to return to
tea. She never saw him afterwards, however, until
he was taken into custody ; but in the mean time she
had learned of his former marriage, and of the exist-
ence of his lawful wife. Her watch, which it turned
out he had given to some other woman, to whom he
was making vows, was restored soon after his appre-
hension.—Tire case excited not only interest but
amusement, the prisoner being a man apparently
verging upon 50, nearly six feet high, corpulent, and
by no means prepossessing. The lady seemed about
23, was diminutive, and extremely delicate.
The prisoner made no defence, and was, without a
moment's hesitation, found—Guilty.

A P.tris Paper says, the public attention at Brus-
sels it at present occupied with a dreadful crime, of
which the following are
,given as the details. In
May, 1817, a Serjeant of the 38th Militia, named
Maters, disappeared from the Garrison at Termond,
and was reported to his superior Officers as a de-
serter. At Grimberger, in April last, Charles Claus,
a soldier, had a violent quarrel with his wife, in
the course cf which she was overheard by some
of the neighbours calling him an assassin. In
consequence of this, information was given, and
inquiries set on foot, by which it was discovered that
Maters had been assassinated at Grimbergen in May,
1817: and that the perpetrators of that crime were
the brothers James and Charles Claus. The house
of the latter was a brothel. One night in May, 1817,
the brothers learned that Serjeant Maters was coming
to their house, and they assembled three girls tia
meet him, to whom they added their own sister.—
After a debauch, which lasted till midnight, Charles
Claus called Maters into an adjoining closet, from
which the girls soon after heard the sounds of groans
issuing. One of them went and half-opened the door,
but recoiled terrified at beholding the unfortunate
Maters expiring on the floor, and weltering in his
blood. The two other women were also eye-witnesses
of this horrible spectacle, which the assassins seemed
not to wish to withdraw from their sight. At last the
murderers cut the head from the body, put the whole
into a sack, and went to inter it on a heath near their
house. On their return, C. Claus exacted from the
women a dreadful oath, that they should be silent
respecting all they had seen ; himself swearing that be
would murder the first of them that said a word about
it. One of the most atrocious circumstances connected
with this crime was, that in this very closet, still
overflowing with the blood of their victim, Charles
Claus passed the night on the straw with one of these
females. The two Claus's have been apprehended.
The principal assassin is an old soldier returned from
the service of France. Those who served with him
recount many instances of his cruelty. The dead
body of the Serjeant ha; not yet bees found. •