Police.
The Times, 1824-10-27T00:00:00

IAswSrox-rousr.-Mlessr. Clementi and Co., the mnsic- sellers, in Cheapside, sent to the Justice-room to put the pollio an the alert after a swindler who had attempted to defraud theam, who they had no doubt wa committing e?tenaive depredations in the metzopolis. A person brought a letter ts them, of which the follow. ing Is a copyi:_ "Ocober 2i, 1824. "Gent.-Send by the beatrer a eouple of handsome concert flute (not ivory), with casea, if you have them, as I want them for the East Iadies. I have inclesed a draft on Memrs. Masternian for the amount. Inclose bill and recelip I alz, Gent., your?, 23, Bruton.street, Bond-street. ' J, GORION." A check for l8L on Mesgr,s Mscterman Trsi ernloeed n ttedlettc. The Hon. Wfilliam Gordon resides at No. 2i, Bruton.street, and as it happens, ts a cdstomer of Messrs. Clementi. so that the swindler had come strong chances in his favouY: but there wae something in the manner of sending a person who bad neither the appearAnce of a porter nor a servant, with the order of a man of rtank, which excited suspicion, and the check was sent to Messrs. Mastermtan, in order that Its genuineness might be ascertained. The banlars declared that they knew no such person as Al% Gotdon. A person was thea sent in quest of the swtndler, but that ingenious fellow, no doubt alarmed at the delay), disappeared. The bearer was a poor honest nan whom he had picked up in the neighbourhood to carry the order for him. Mr. Gordon and his family had been long ott of town. Had the flates been sent, the swindler would doubtless have been at the door to receive them. A great deal of work of this kind which is carried on to the injury of tradesmnen, might be prevented if public totification were given of the various devices in use amongst swindlers, whether successful or otherwise. The tricks are constantly varying, and if they were ex. posed, gangs of thieves, who carry on with Impunity extensWc frauds, would lose their most profitable labotirs. Within a few days the LoRD MAyon has received information that very extensive mischief had been done by mad dogs. Abeut.a week ago, a gentlerman, who is well kown as the editor of a periodi- cal publication and several literary works, was bitten by a black ter; rier in Pentonville. On the foliwing day it waas ascertained that the dog was decidedly mad, and the gentlemau undetwent k very severe operation. Mr. Ball, of the Mintrles, asm written to inform his Lordship of the mnischief done in that neighbourhood by mad dogs. One which had shown uneqduvo-al symptoms of hydropho. bha had bitten seveal others, and a bulldog which belonged to a female neighbour had bitten a dog in Mr. Ball's counting.house, and when it was proposed to put the bull-dog to deaths the w?nek swore that if any one killed the dog, she would be the death ofhim- BOw.sTREET.-YCsterday MV r. fFhUIzam Hares,c the public singer and director of a musical atademy in the Adelphi was brought before Mr. HAtLs, on an assault warrant, charged with an assault upon one of his pupils, Jacob Wiliam (Gesr, a boy about 12 years of age. Mr. Hlawes came accompanied by the Rev. b)r. Hughes, one of the Canons Residentiary of St. Paul'santhedral and some other gentlemen of St. Paul's, and thieChapel Royal. Several of his pupils wYere also present. 4 paleslooking yatsig mail, whose namne and his. connexion with the inquiry will appeat subse. quently, placed himself by the side of the youlng complainant before the magistrate. Jacob William (}ear, efore he was sworn, was qusationed by Mr. HALLS as to his knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, of future rewards and punishments, and his idea of the obligation of an oath, to all of which he answered very intelligently and satisfactorily. He was then sworn, and stated, that on Thursday morning last, about half-pat eight o'clock he was in the school-room, stooping to thefloor witha leathern plaything,caUed a "sucker," when Mr.HI aes came irn and struck him a severe blow astoss the arm with his walk. ing cane, which he had iu his hand. Ei; arm was rmuch bruisei by the blow. Mr. HALLs.-Are you not forbidden to have your playthingp in the school-room? Mr. Halwes.-Only when they are engagdd in their lessons At other times it is not objected to. The complainant, by the desire of Mr.HALLS, bared his arm and there appeared a bruise or black mark about an inch and a half In length, and an inch in width. Mr. Hawes began his defence byproducingthe canewith wbich the blow was given. It was about an inch and a quarter in circtimferz. ence, and of an elastic kind. Air. Hawes said, that looking at the bruise upon the arm of the boy he could scarcely imagine that it could have been produced by tihe stroke of such a cane as the one he held in his hand. MLr. HALLS said he also felt inclined to doubt whether it could have produced so large a mark, and asked the boy if the bruise Imtight not have been caused by a fal, or some other blow; but he was answered in the negative. Mlr. l-awes continued, that his pupils were choristers of St. Paul's, and His Majesty'a Chapel Royal, and it was the cus. tom of his establishment for the puil,l every morning to as- semble in the school-room for the purpose of practising the psalms of the day before going to the cathedral. On the mnorning in ques. tion, he was going oat at the practising hour, when, on looking into the school-roorno, e found all the young gentlemen at their music, with the exception of the complainant, who was stooping Piayng with his sucker, and he gave him a stroke with his cane teuring him to go to his duty. EIe merely cied out "Oh !" anti went to his music. The real author ot' this roceealng, however, wa the Person who tood by the side of the boy, wko fromn motives which he (Mr. Hawes) could not even gues at, (hut some motive.he must have) ba, lately chesen to commence a very active in- terferen&e btwees him and Master Gear. He received a letter a few days ago from thiaperon, inssting, in very eremptory terms, that certain indulgence hould be granted to the boy-.paticultrly leave to be absent fror school at certain peiods which the wtiter mentioned. He thought it extremdy strange that sy but the pa. rents of a pupil should presugi to interfere ia the reguletions of his establishmenit and with the sanction of Dr. Hughes, to whom. he showed the letter, he returned no other answer thtn a maere acheow- ledgment of having received it. Hf soon received another letter, stitU more impertiDent than the firut; but of this h6 took no notice. He did not choose to Infringe upoo the rules of his eatablishmelt at the cemmandofeastanger; ad beids, hehad a very powerful reason for keeping amost watchful eye upon and takidg tfic greatest care of Master Gear. This reason he woul4 state to the mag5stratt. Ali. Hawed produced a letter, which he said had come into his hands addresed to this very boy; but before he mentioned the pur- port of its content4, he begged it most distinctly to be underetood, that It was not Written by thie penon of whom lie had been speaking, nor had it, Indeed, anY eonnexion with this caKe, xcex t so far as to show his(,Mr. Ilawesa) motive for wtchfulnea. This note was written ina male bardt signed, sad contained anu ap)Olntwent .for tie boy to mneet the ntser at silght, in ar,lepassa.sa Paternoster. ro*v Up on such a dlacotery'au this, he fit It hi duty i.t teq boy, hRis poitets,aid toltinself,to obeservegreat caution withTespect to him, and particuiarly to keep him Lender his own eye as much as possible. Wirth respet to thecharge 'of cruelty, he distinctly denied that there was thele3st foundalton fori. le badsentmanyyoung gentlemen into the world who were,he believed,makting their way with credit to them. belve8, and there were severr.l of his Pupils nowv around him, and of themall he believed it wtuld bediffilcultto find one who had any com. plaint to make of his treatment. He had no complaint whatever against the boy * he believed hirn to be a vgry excellent youth, and t.at he never would have appeared here but -f the desire of the per- son before alluded to. The bey'd elder brother, who had passed tlrough his establishment with great honour to himself, was present, and would say that he always experienced kindness *. Mr. HALLS then turrned to the person So often spoken of, and who, irs answer to the questions put to him. said his name was George Roberts, that he lived at 30, - street, Northampton-squere, and that *hat he had done was with the approbation of the boy's fatWgr. He himself was a clerk to Jones and Lloyd, the hankers; Mr.- Oear was a musician. ' b4 elder Master Gear said that his father and .M1r. Roberts were lifsfhate friends, and that his brother was sometimes at the house of tIe latter, where he was thaught as safis as at home. Pi. i*ughes bore testimony to the kindness of heart alwavs shonn by Mr. Hawes; and the latter observed, that he believ the boy was scarcelv hurt at alli The rest of the punils had all " had it' in their turns when they deserved it, and he fancied they were never much hunt. MVfr. HALLS said, he had felt it his duty to suffer Mr. Hlawes to enter into the fullest explanation, and he had permitted him perhaps to introduce ssine e.traneous matter; and it was because he thought that a charge of cruelty (and this was so preferred when the warrant was applied for, against the director of a public establishment of such considerable consequence, could not be too narrowly inquired I into for the sake both of the public and the individual. I'he carge I here eeemed to him to be frivolous and unfounded. and ought never i to have been tbought of. He (Air. Halls) wvould not lend his en.- | couragement to the new idea that seemled to have sprung up with I some people, that boys wrere not to be corrected by their masters, I whatever they might do. There was, he knew, a popular feeling again st masters, biut he thoulght it an erroneou-s one. Besides, inI this case, the parents of the boy were the persona alone who had a .ight to complain or interfere with Mr. Hawes's regulations. The warrant was discharged. MARLaoLour ST.E:ET_.-Charles Christmas Marryaf, a sol. dier in one of the regirnents of Foot Ouards, was brought froee St. James's watchhouse upon the following charge :-The son of AMr. Mi(Gowan4 landlord of the Goat public-house, in Pall-mall, stated. that about nine o'clock the evening before, the prisoner, accounpanieA by another soldier and a female, came into the house anal called for something to drink, after taking which they departed; but as they were going out, Mrs. Mi'Gowan saw the prisoner take UpD a tWo qUaTt bottle of noyeau which stasd In the bar, neat the doo:, and carry it off'with him. Witness being told the circumstance by his mother, pursued the prisoner, who ran with all possible speed, but finding the wfitness glosingr upon him, he turned round and flung the bottle at his head, which) hard it hit him, witness said, it must have fractured his skull, from ItS weight. The prisoner was soon after stopped by a patrol, but he made a desperate resistance, and was only secured by the aid of several watchmen. In the struggle, one of the watchmen bad lis hand desperately cut by some sharp instrument and on searching the prisener, two large dinner knives were found sticking out of his Walstwoat.pocket; and upon further inquity, it was found that they belonged to Mr. Sandwell, landlord of the Red Lion pub. lc-house, in Crown-court, St. J4met's. Mr. Sandwell attended, and identifled the knires as his property, and said they had been missed from his house the same evening, and that the prisoner had been drinking there. The prisoner, in his defence, denleel all knowledge of the whole transaction; and he was fully committed for trial upon charges of robbery. The sergeant of the companv to which the prisoner belongs in the regiment attended the examination, and waa asked by Mr. COwANT, the magistrate, how long the prisoner had been in the regiment, and what his character was there; for he seemed to be a wholeslae robber, committing depredations in everv house he entered. The sergeant said, that the man has been only about 18 months in the regiment; but had always conducted hirnself very well, and had never been punished. Mrs. Riviere, the wife of Mr. Riviere, a gunsmith, in Oxford- street, alpliea for the magistrate's advice, as to what means she shouid asopt to recover, or gain some tidings of, a favourite daugh. ter of her's, who had suddenly disappeared from the house-she be- lieved removed away by Mr. Riviere, in order to separate her from her mother, the applicant5 to whom she was greatly attached; and she had some reason to suspect that the girl, Tvho is only 15 years of age, has beea consigned to the cloisters of a convent somewhete upon the continent. At all events, Mirs. Riviere said she could neither seenor hear any thing of her dear child, nor would Mr. Riviere give her asny satisfaction respecting her, or the place of her retreat. The Magistrate said, thast he had no power to interfere with a fa- ther In the disposal of his daughter as stated by Mrs. Riviere, but he would ssend for Mr. Itiviere, andi most likely he would give some explanation that would be satisfactory noon the subject. According- Iy Mr. Riviere was sent for, and arrived in a few minutes at the of- fice, when the Magistrate informed him of the grievance of which Mlrg. Riviere comr lamed. Mr. Riviere WaY, that it was very true he had removed his daughter away from the reach and control of her mother, for the best of all possible reasons; that, had he not done Fo, the girl's ruin mustbe the conssequene* and, to give the Magistrate some idea of the probabi- lity of this result, he would mention a fevw transactions, and a line of conduct, which this young creature, 16 years of age, was encouraged byher mother to pursue. In the first place, this young girl, with the consent of her mother, went and hired a large ball-rnom, for the purpose of' givin,g wreekly dances and balls, and inviting all the young men and wromen, no matter who they were that came into her own orher mother's head. In the nextplace, sbe became an actress, by her mohter4s wish, at a private theatre, where she was tO act the chief parts in tragedy; and all this had forsome time been going on unknown to him (MTr. Riviere), until he fortunately found it Out by the accidental circumstance of his missing the key of the street. Ooorn which, upon proper Inquiry, he discovered :his young creature was in the habit of taking with her, by her mother's consent. every night after he went to bed and letting herself in at four and five o'clock In the morning. io rescue the girl, therefore, from the in. evitable rain that must await her, if nof removed from such scenes, he had plated her in a situatiox where both her ruorals and her edu. cation would be attended to. He had not, as was stated,intrusted her removal to the care of any one, for he himself had placed her where sie was. Mrs. Riviere could not derty the seenes described by her husband, but said all she wanted was to know where her sdaughter was, and to bear frorth het occasionallv. The Magistrate said, that after what he had heard, he certainly should not press upon Mr. Riviere to say more than he wished upoon the subject, but perhaps ihe would have no objoction to tell AS rs. Ri- viere if the girl was in England or in a convent, which Mtrs. Riviere seemed-te have a great dread of. Mr. Rivicre said, that for the Magistrate's satisfaction he would just wentioni that he had himself gone with his daughter to France, ah4 placedher in one of the umost respectable nunneries, or rather schools- in that country, where he was to pay a considerable annual sum for her maintenance and education, until the evil habits that she wag contracting should be eradicated. " Oh, then," exclaimed Mrs. Riviere, "c my child is ruined, lost fbr ever; she will be made a nun of!" The Magistrate observed, that perhaps if she even were, the .ehahgr might not be for the worse, from the course of life she was pursutng. Mr. Iiviere said, that of course the Magistrate knew that these convents were schools of education as well, aRd the religion of the pupils not interferedwith. Togive same idea of the extravagant expanse into which his wfife and daughter were also bringing him, Mr. Riviere produced to the magistrates a bill, which he had just paid, for dtresses and ornaments, including etage-dresses, no doubt, and bal.l-dresses. This bill reached in length across the magistrate's table, and amnounted to 501. in about two months. The Magistrate said, that he thought lAlr. Riviere had acted with great propriety in disposing of his daughter as he had done, and ad- viged MArs. Riviere not to interfere further upon the subject: she would, of course, always have an opportunity of hearing that lier daughtei was well; and, for the present, that was sufficient. 0 This Is the Master Gear who sometime ago excited tha attentioln and t Pprobation of His Majesty, while performin, (we believe) in the sacred concerts at the Pavllton. POLICe.