Star.
London, England, 1818-12-29 00:00:00

`..~

POLICE.

Masszos-Hoyst.—An Officer of the Coldstream
Guards yesterday applied to the Loan MAYOR for a
warrant, to enable him to search the Duncombe, a
ship lying off Blackwell, for three men, who had
deserted from the regiment, and who were intending
to join the Independent army in Venezuela. He
stated, that several men of the regiment to which he
belonged, had sailed some time since on the same
destination, and he wished to prevent the three indi-
viduals in question, whom he knew to be on board
the Duncombe at present, and in expectation of sail-
ing on Thursday next, from joining their runaway
comrades.—The LORD MAYOR told him that he was
sorry he could not give him any assistance, as the
vessel was not lying within his jurisdiction ; he would,
however, give him a note Tor Captain It ICHBELL, of the
Thames olice, who, he was certain, would, on ap-
eication, immediately send a boat on board the

buncombe, and seize the men if they were found in
it. The Officer then bowed to his Lordship, and re-
tired to make his proposed application.
Brown, the officer, brought up a child, whom he
had found on Saturday evening opposite the house of
Messrs. Richardson and Goodluck, the Lottery-office
keepers in Cornhill. As it was alone and almost
starved to death at the time it attracted Iris attention,
he can-ied it to the nearest public-house, and had it
warmed and fed there. Being too young to give
any rational account of itself or of itsarents, he
kept it till Monday morninn, when he fopund, upon
examining the board stuck up in the 'loyal Ex-
change, for the recovery of lost children, that a poor
woman, residing in Cock-costrt,Jewry-street, had lost
a child, and was in the greatest distress in conse-
quence of it. He accordingly went to her, and by
informing -her the child was safe in his custody,
changed her tears of sorrow into tears of joy. She
accor,!ingla -attended at the Mansion house to re-
ceive hack her little innocent, and said, in answer to a
question from the LORD MAYOR, why she bid not
taken better care of it, that it had gone out under the
care of its elder brother, and had by some accident
been separated from him in a crowd.—The Lon°
MAYOR, after praising in very strong terms the hu-
manity of the officer, ordered the child to be restored
to its mother, and expressed a hope that she would
look more narrowly after its safety in future. This
she promised to do, and immediately departed.
EXTRAORDISARY CAse..—A woman of decent ap-
pearance was brought up by one of the Officers, on
a charge of soliciting alms from the passengers in the
street. On being. brought beiore his Lordship, she
firmly denier; the charge, said that it was all a mis-
take on the part of the OfficerF, and promised, if his
Lordship would allow her a few minutes conversa-
tion in private, to convince him of her innocence,
by dischtting the name of her husband and family,
with both of whom lie was perfectly well acquainted.
Hip Lordship, after a short pause, desired her to
come to him, and after a little conversation with
her, ordered her to be discharged, advising her,
at the same time, to persuade her husband, if she
could, to follow some honest and industrious calling.
—On her retirin7. the LORD MAYOR observed, that
her husband was the son of a most respectable citizen
and merchant of London; bat, unfortunately, was
almost as profligate and useless a member of society
as his father was an honest and valuable one. By
his own (the Lord Mayor's) intercession, this indivi-
dual had been rescued from a criminal prosecution,
and sent to the West Indies, is hopes that some
amendment would take place in his conduct, when
separated from the vicious assodates with whom he
was At that time connected. This object had, how-
not been effected; instead of returning an
amended being, he had returned more accomplished
in depravity than he was before he left England.—
Since his arrival in this country, he had contrived to
reduce his father from a 'state of affluence to a state
of ruin and poverty. The woman just dismissed
from the bar had the misfortune to be his wife ; and,
as far as he had heard, had 'always borne a most re-
spectable character. Indeed, it was from his know-
ledge of her family %id connexions that lie had or-
dered her to be discharged, notwithstanding the
evidence and asseverations of the-Officers.
Three or four cases of assault were at the same
time beard before his Lordship: but as none of them
were of any importance, and as all of them seemed,
to originate in an over-indulgence in the festivities of
Christmas, his Lordship advised the parties to retire,
and consider whether their differences could not be
reconciled without his interference. This was ac-
cordingly done ; and in all the cases a compromise
took place between the contending parties.
Outtotrau..—Yesterday Andrew Carey, a mise-
rable-looking object, was brought up before the sit-
ting Magistrate, Mr. Alderman BIRCH, charged with
stealing part of a dressed ham out of the larder of
the Crown Tavern, Bow-lane, on Sunday afternoon.
Mr. Whitfield, the keeper of the tavern, said, that
in: consequence of his larder having been robbed
several times, he'kept watch, and saw the prisoner
come up the passage, take the ham from the larder,
and run off. He gave the alarm of stop thief imme-
diately, and the prisoner was pursued and taken into'
custody. He believed the prisoner committed the
offence through hunger, and should therefore be
sorry to punish him ; his only object was to prevent
these repeated depredations. The prisone- did not
deny the charge, but declared he had not tasted food
from one o'clock on Christmas day. After a humane
and proper admonition from the Magistrate, the
prisoner was discharged, and instructed in what man-
ner to apply for parochial relief.
MARLBOROUOH•STRIIRT.—The greater part of yes-
terday morning was occupied in deciding upon
wounds and scars, arising out of Christmas holiday-
making ; but one of them was of a most outrageous
Collins, and Hamilton, were charged
with wounding Leonard, a watchman, at the door of
St. Giles's Watch-house, on Sunday night. Several
hundred persons were assembled, the whole day hav-
ing been spent in rioting. One of the defendants,
who had before been convicted, and suffered a long
term of imprisonment, began to quiz Leonard on the
dash he cut in his new parish coat; and on meeting
a rough reply, he knocked the watchman down with
a huge bludgeon and laid his temple open in a dan-
gerous manner. A general fight took place ; but the
officers succeeded in apprehending the defendants.—
i• . were committed n default of bail..
. ilaasymiX•at-aofosr.--Ifesterday John Wilson wa-,
breeiht to this Office by Stoir the Constable, clvtged