The Statesman.
London, England, 1818-09-28 00:00:00

Y•

.;

EXTVW.R. 111:5TRESS.
The following account of extraordinary sufferings
in. • private family is derived from Authentic facts,
which were last week communicated at the Public
Office Bow-street :
An individual, shoot 30 years of age, in tattered
earmentai presented himself to the Magistrate, and
craved relief for his wife, who, he said, was far
:IflT4l‘CPti in pregnancy, and two small children. The
Magistrate nskeil him to be more explicit, and say
s, hat brought him to such st state of poverty and
svretcherltiesa as he how exhibited. The applicant,
ho had the language and manners of a Gentleman,
stated that he was by profession a Solicitor, and was
a native of Birmingham. On his• commencing prac-
tice, he went on flourishingly, married a young lady
kvith some property, and was as happy as he could
ssish. This, however, was only of short duration.
He purchased a small estate, but through the mis-
management of those employed to conduct it, the
crops failed ; distemper seised his cattle, and in
about two yearsa he was compelled to dispose of it by
auction. By this speculation he had seffered very
considerably; but by a close attention to the duties
of his profession- he had nearly recovered his losses,
when a merchant in London, in whose hands a great
part of his property was invested, failed, and reduced
him almost to beggary. This circumstance, together
with a heavy domestic ffiiction (the loss of his mother
and sister), had such an effect upon his mind, that he
v bscame for a time deranged. After a lapse of about
'seven nvonths, by the skill of his medical attendant',
111, recovered, but the scene which presented itself. to
his restated senses had very nigh caused a relapse.—
Ile found his wife and two children in an obscure
lodging, all suffering dreadfully from poverty and
the scarlet fever, and seith scarcely a friend to assist
them. In this dileMma he applied to her friends for
pecuniary relief; bat they having taken offence at
.some imagined mark of disrespect, refused to see
him. Ills own relations were dead, and not know-
ing what to do, auto unable to procure employment
even as a clerk lo his own profession, he went to
work as a labourer. in a manufactory. Here, by at.
WIWI) and lodastty, he acquired the good opinion
of his master, and in a few months, through his re-
•donsmerirlation, obtained more respectable employ.
He had a criniideMble salary, his wife and
children recovered, and..his prospects in life were
once more beginning to brighten, when his new em
ployer foiled in business, and he was again cast on
the world destitute of the means of support. With
the little money he had contrived to save, he
brought his wife and children to London, and in
a short time was fortunate enough to obtain a
considerably deal of practice as an attorney abaut
:the Police Courts. 'his was about a year and a half
ago ; and for several months he found himself and
family comfortably situated, and he looked for.
paid with confidence to the enjoyment of affluence.
•riis evil Repine, however, still pursued him. He fell
•
r,t9k stlift the typhus fever, his wife and eldest child
teal/lit the *dreadful malady, and being unable to at-
tend his professional duties, a clerk, who had the
anagrirooor of his affairs, took advantage of the op.
'p'ortvinity thus presented fur his own advancement,
iaNul 'setting up fur hiriself, succeeded in drawing
,ewey the practice of his master. The debility at.
pendant upon the disease continued fain months to
,deprive him of the power Of doing business, and all
his money being spent, he was again reduced
to utter
despair. In Ibis State of wretchedness he had conti-
sned'rei since, and having parted with his last piece
oTiVrnitare, he was at length compelled, however
viancan t
7, to make his sorrowful tale public, to
'We his wife and children from absolute starvation.
'The Magistrate Obserybd, that this tale of mis-
fortune exceeded any thing lie had ever heard, and
ma altogether SO extraordinary, that he almost
doubted the truth of the statement. The unfortunate
Man licensed hurt.that his veracity should be doubted,
and gave the readiest and most explicit answers to
several interrogitoriea from the Magistrate. The
whole train of (Misfortunes which he had described
happened within the short space of seven years. His
wile was now in a very weak state, and six months
advanced In pregnancy. The utmost commiseration
for the poor min and Ms family seemed to prevail
Oolong the periona pr4ent, and they gate the best
possible proof of it, by .celfecting, in a few minutes,
• vivo considers's'e sem of money ter them. The
applicant seemed overcome with this kindness, and
heftthe office in tears. After hii departure, a ten.
ileman, disterMined to ascertain Whetter ltae applicant
hid told the troth, 'sent its the 'lourie'nf theday to
the house where fie eater lie iras Tridging in b coed its
Ilrury-lane, and found the nal, haptty Wan with •his
lemiVy, *exactly as be had described, *card 10 6 'corn-
forta We meal. The change in their afflrirs seemed to
have had a powerful effect upon theta all, and they
vipressed the deepest graiitade to their kind bene-
factors. It is the inteption of tub individual in
'question to proceed to Hirminghtinv•wish bhi family,
should he succeed in raising • a lam malicfeist to 'bear
his espences to that place.'
19, iz • .
SINGULAR Ditcovgair.—On Tuesday last, Mr.
Nlaikland, the Magistrate of Queen-squire Police.
office, white performing his Magisterial duties at the
office, was requested by a Gentleman who came,
to attend on an Officer's widow residing at Bethnal-
green, at any convenient time, for the purpose of
administering an oath, and Signing an affidavit, to
authorise her to receive her husband's pension, the
Lady being bed-ridden and unable to attend herself.'
--Mr. Markland accordingly repaired, on Thurs-
day morning last to the Lady's dwelling, and
after performing his necessary ditties, in the
course of conversation, from various circumstances,
he discovered that she was his auto, and instead of
being a Captain's widow, she was the widow of an,
Admiral; avid by this fortunate interview tier fortune
changed, and' added considerably to her pension,
which loss she bad sustained since her husband'.
death.

On Friday nixlit an extensive robbery was com-
mitted at Mrs. Kendall's, the Mitre, to Chnntery-
lane. Some thieves contrived to pin access by e
crow-bar, which they have left behind, thew, into a
room up stairs, and stole irons her in. Rank uf Eng-
land notes 1051., twenty guineas in gold, her watch,
and all her silver spoons, and sundry other Width
11,:h the robbers tot clear off with.

THE ST.

Efi -FT g..

MANsiON-Tionstt.—On Saturday two watermen,
minted !kidskin' and Matthews, were summoned on
the complaint of Mr. Duncan Campbell, for extor-
tion, and for'not wearing badges with numbers in
their hats, according to the' regulations of the Water-
man's Company.
Mr. Campbell said, he hired Bradshaw's boat
from Blackfriare-bridge to Old Swan-stairs, the fare
'
for which was legally about 4d. On landing, Bred.
s-hase refused! to say what the fare was, but wished
66 to leave it to his generosity," as the fare
was very low. Complainant refused to pay him any
thing unions he made a-demand. He then Baked
ls. 6d. which was paid. As to the other complaint
of not wearing badges, the law might be a good one
or not ; but whilst it remained a law, he (Mr. C.)
would enforce its observance. If there was any evil
its the regulation, the best way of getting it repealed,
was, to bring the question before the Public.
Bradshaw pleaded he had a wife and three chil-
dren, and .was poor. If men of this class were to
receive only legal fares, it would be imp-asible for
them to exist. The wearing badges, he said, was
quite obsolete.
The Loan MAYOR thought the case not of a na-
ture to demand punishment, and wished to excuse
them;. but Mr. Campbell observing that he had a
right to enforce the esecution of any eiisting law of
the land, insisted upon the conviction of the Defend.
ants. Bradshaw was fined ss. for each offence; and
Matthews ss. for not wearing a badge.
Mr. C. haring succeeded in his object, paid the
penalties for the men, cautioning them to avoid such
difficulties in future.
FORGERIES ON THE BANK OF ENGLAND.
Bow-sTnEET.—Situiday John Egan and Mary
Hartnett were fully committed to Newgate for trial,
on three distinct charges of uttering forged Bank of
England notes. The substance of the depositions was
as follows :
Ann Tucker, the wife of John Tucker, stated,
that the Prisoners came her stall in Covent-garden
market, early on the morning of Saturday, the 12th
of this month, and purchased half a sieve of apples,
the price of which was half-a-crown. She changed a
pound note for them—it was the same note now
produced.
Some difficulty arose in the course of her examine-'
Lion as to her competency to speak to the note being
the same she received, as she could neither read nor
write ; hut the difficulty was removed by the evi-
dence of the woman's husband, who deposed that he
was present at the time, and that this note was the
only one received that morning at the stall. In the
course of the day he discovered the note to be a
forged one.
A fruiterer from Buckinghamshire deposed that
the Prisoners, on the same day, passed a forged
Bank of England note at his stall for apples.—
Shortly after he found that forged notes were going
about the market, and that his was one of them.—
He, therefore, desired his master to look about, and
see if he could recollect the faces of the persons who
had passed the note upon him. The man did so,
and caught the Prisoners just after passing another
bad note to a man of the name of Weller, its the
market. •
The Prisoners, on being told by the Magistrate
that they must be fully committed to Newgate for
trial, were informed that they might, if they pleased,
say any thing respecting the charge laid against them,
if they thought it prudent to urge any thing in their
defence. The Magistrate informed them that they
were not bound to say any thing, unless they thought
it could tend to their advantage.
The Prisoner Egan said he would not make any
observations in this stage of the business.
The woman said she was wholly innocent, and
that her Prosecutor.' had sworn what was false.
The Prisoners were apprehended by Smithere, the
officer, who found nothing on their persons but
some small change.—They were fully committed.
On Saturday Mark Brown was brought to the
-Office, charged with attacking several Gentlemen in
Covent-garden Piazza on Friday night, abou t half-past
eleven o'clock, at the time they were coming out of
the Theatre at the close of the performance. The
Prisoner was in company with a gang of four or five
I others.—lle was committed for trial.
Quatx.setraite.—On Saturday, Mr. Jackson, of
the Three Johns, Carteret-street, Westminster,
charged Alexander Smart, Char. Underwood, end IV,
Lang, privates in the 3d regiment of Guards, with
robbing him of liquors, wearing apparel, end money.
It appeared that in February last, when the detach.
meat to which the Prisoners belonged, were removed
from Windsor to London, they lodged at Mr. Jack-
son's, and in July he was going corer Westminster-
bridge, when he met Lang, who informed him of
these robberies by his lodgers. Mr. J. got a friend
to watch with him, and caught one of the Prisoners
that night in the cellar. Ile missed a quantity of
towels, silk handkerchiefs, end wearing apparel.—
Corporal Turnbull searched the box of Smart. and
found keys of all the locks in the house. Mr. J. had
often missed money from the till ; but he could not
account for it till Underwood deserted from the regi-
ment. Ile was met by Jackson a few days ago, who
took him into custody, and represented the case to
the Commanding Officer, who immediately put the
offenders ander arrest. Serjeant Whitrow attended
with them ; bat Mr. J. having intimated that he
could-produce more evidence on Monday, the Pri-
soners were taken to the guard-house.
Lasisett-rrtterv.--Saturday, Wm. Williams was
remanded, charged with beinta common utterer of
forged Bank of England antes.

• AUDA-00t3 Rosokkv.—Another of those rob.
beries which are so frequently committed about
squares, and pliers less frequented, took place on
Thursday evening. Maria Waller, servant to J. P. I
Preseett,• Esq.-Nottinghain.street, went away in the
evening, at'nine o'clock, with a bundle, and 121. its
money, and on her way to a friend in the Hampstead.
road, she was accosted by a well-dressed man, who
obtruded his conversation upon her, and made splen.
did offers of protection, all of which she rejected.-
lie persisted in walking by her side, and at the
north-west angle of 171H:ray-square, he snatched her
bundle of linen, which contained a small box with
the money, and thus deprived the poor girl of her
all, the [faits of her induttry.