Police.
The Times, 1824-12-28T00:00:00

1IANSION HOUSE.-The LoBRD M-AYOR has determined to leave no means untattempted whicih may be likely to forward the spirfted subscription for the relief of the distressed Spaniish and tali an refugees. He has written to somne, and intends to write to all the principal authbrities in' the different great towns of Great Britain, rgquestirig that they will aid the cause by calUng meetings, and xepresenting t e necessities of the unfortunate foreigners. W1'e believe it is also his Lordship's intenidon to write to the ministers and churchwarderij of the dlfferent parishes in the metropolis, to encourage paroc,hial subsciiptlons. The Committee appointed at the late meeting -et once since Its foriation, and discussed the neces- sary measures for disposing of the tsubscription. The members have not yet come to a defiicitive arrangement with respect to the fatire disposal of' those who are so strongly the objects of the public sym- pathy; but there is every reason to suppose that the efforts of the Public will be assisted most liberally fromn a very exalted quar- ter. It is due to the Chief lagistate to say, that his peremp- tory refusal to allow a grain of the alloy of politics to be mixed up with the consideration of the merits of the subject has had lhe effetit of gaining innumerable contributors. lisi Lordship has receivedl several letters enclosing large dinations, and assuriny hini that the writers Would have been obliged to withhold their charity if any feeling but that of charity had been uppealed to. The Committee are aware that they bave a delicate duty to perfonr in dispensing the public bounty. They have appointed, prtO telupore, five ot the spanish and five of the Italian refugecs, amongct whom are, we un- derstand, General liuna and Quiroga, to investigate eaclh case - but they have talken good care that no individual who has been obliged I to seek protection here shall be for a moment a sufferer from the delay which raust arise unavoidably from the nature of the inquiry. From the day of thie 'meeting, each single man has receied IlOs. * each muarried man, hIaving only a wife, 15,. ; and each married man, having a wife and. cihildren, 18s. per vweek. ThIus, upwards of 700 gentlemen, a great number of' whom have been living in grandeur in their own' co6intry, and then fled to starvation in this, are novw re- lieved fronm this last dreadful extremity. Notwithstanding die ur- gencyof the necessities of the refugees, itis a faet that In some in- stances they have rejected the aid of the Commnittee, and actualiv engaged, in the most laborious and unprofitable drudgery rather. thnn submit to what they consdeiBan indignity. Others feel great reluctance at the idea of being supplied by the hands of their coun- tiymuen, wlho have been appointed by the Comimittee to investigate the eases, and to deal out the weekly allowance. Yesterday some of the refugees waited on his Lordship, to repre. sent the propriety of altering this latter arrangement, but his L-ord- ship referred-them to Mr. Freshfield, the Honerary Secretary, who resides, in Tbrogrmortonustreet, and who has humaniely devoted a great portion Of his time to the service of the charity. The Lord qayor at tbte same time expressed' a lhope that those unlfortunate gentlemen who seemed to consider the pablic contributions reflect. ed a 'tishionour tiponI those who received thiem, would abandon that prejudice,' -and' that if it were only for the accommodation of the 4*vn'Itutee, all objections to die existingtv)mde of tdisctibution would be waved. AMr. Louts de la Vega is, we bnderstand, to attend daily at Newton's Hotel, in St. Alartin's-strect, Leeicester6fields, tbr the pptp*,e of distriibujting the allowances. .In the'c6uric tf the day a deputation from the parish ot Rother- waited upQn the Lo.?n) MAYOR, and Alr. J-fardwick, the ^linister of the parish, plut into his Lordship's haand no less a sum than 721. 2S. 8d., tubscribed by a fevw individuals. Nutnbers of fontributioniatiw d4ily coming in from those generous souls who cothfortably smAoke their pipes and talk of politics in the parloura of Lthle Marqutss oCorniallis; and' the-Duke' of Wellington, and tthe Holid,,nthe..'all, and other public-houses. Mr. WVaterhouse, of the Sw ivicljtwtr.neclts Thn, Lad-lane, has made a most liberal ofer to h committee. e. has sLated, that as those gentlemen who Sitp6iintdndthae drtritmeata marprocnre situations for numbers of lhe htdeigniers its distant parts of the'country, he will glve to every one pf tEem who shall obtain a situation in atiy pari of the country to w ihb his coacles ptly, a free passage; In this paper there appeared a few days ago ani acenunt of the ap- plHcation of the podr woman 'tt the LoRD MAYOR fer a summona to the officers of a parlsh, who refu'sed to give ber relief, although she had three poor starving children with her, and her husband was lying in Whitecross.;treet prison, in consequence of' not having gone t*rough the form of net having his recognizaneeS direIarged. The beadle of the parish in reply to- this charge told the Lord Alayor that the woman was a Jcwess, and had no claim upon the parish. The poor woman admitted that she was not a resident in the parish, but then, she said. it was the last parish she slept in; and as her own parish was in a distant part of the country, she hadno alternative but an applicatton for relief to the beadle. Tne LOaRD 0AYOR asked the complainant whether the parish- officers knew the condition of her husband, and that it was in conse- quence of the harshness exercised towards him in entreating his re- cognizances that she and her children were thrown upon the world without a morsel to eat ? The woman replied, that all the facts were well known. Her lusband still lay in prison, and she and her children were to beg or to starve until lie came out, and God knewr wlhen that would be. The LO RD MAYOR, declared that the parish-officers were guiltv of' cruelty In their conduct towards this poor woman. The mere recital of the circtumstances under which a poor nian and his wife and three childrenh were isuftcring so bitterly for an insignificant error, or probably in co'nsequence of a total ignorance of a form of law, would be sufficient to excite deep compassion; lHe greatly re- grettesd that he was8obliged to use language so harsht, but he could not give to such a refusal any other epithet than that-which marked it with the most decisive reprobation. -Thebeadle saidl he had nor any objection to pass the poor vwoman anun her children to her parish. 'The ILoRn fAYou.-.'" And her husband in prison here! That is-verytumane and compassionate indeed. WVhy, when she gets home, she'll beorose ofs besides, she'll beseparated completely from liar husband." 'The beadle then told the LORD MiAYOR that the woman was in no danger from starvation, as theJews had some regulations which prevetited that extrenmity in every instance. -His Lordsthip observed, that such regulations conferred honour 3pon those who made and supported'them. He recommended the beadle to relieve the poor wvoman and her children; and, as an en- couragement to the officers of the parish to open their hearts a little, gave to the cotmplainant as mnuch as would relieve her Recessity for three or four tayte. His Lordship-said hIe was sorry that the notice wvhich wastheotherdayso properly takenofthe caseof the poor woman Wthosehusband had been thrownintoprisonfornotdisclharging hisre- cognizance, had the effectofleading someto think thatthe -ecognizances were estreated in the city of London. This was not the fact; and no man wras more anxious than Mfr. Shelton, the Clerk of the Arraigns, that the public should be informed that the case had no reference totheofficeof which liewas at the head. He(the Lord Ala: or) bad ascertained that AIr. Shelton had never caused an individual to be imprisoned for non-payment of his fees, or for neglecting to observe a form of law. It were to be wished that this practice was more ge- nerally observed, but in different parts of the country the practice ef' estreating recegnizances w-s carried to a most terrible excess. Num- bers ofpersons were, he understood, titrown into prison several years after the occasion on which the recognizances should have been dis- charged and when no possible advantage or injury to any party, or to the mubnic, could result from procurinr the discharge of the security. He uelieved there were no more than five suffering impriso4nment in the county of AMiddlesex for neglect of the kind. Of these the htus- band of the poor woman who was now reduced to b, ggarv was one, and he supposed that the wives and families of others of them were suttering in the same manner. But those fivc wre objects of con sideration, and he had se}t a list to Mir. Peel, who) is aware of he hardship of aU cases of the kind, and would apply the speediesi remedy. UNrro.s.rALL._Yesterday Mary Anne Ball, who cohabits with a person named lfonyman, was brought befbre the sitting magis- tratc, R. J. CHAMBERS, Esq., charged with having vislently as- saulted Airs. Whitmee, who, it will be recollected, attended at this office on Friday last, accompanied by her husband, for the purpose of applying for a warrant for her apprehension. The particulars of this case have been already detailed. After a great deal of violent abuse between Mtrs. Whitnee and the girl, the magistrate indignantly discharged the warrant, saying that there was not a pin to choose between the two women. Then, addressing Mr. Whitmee, he observed, that it was a pity he did not let the two women fight it out between themselves, as it was all about wbo should hbave the man. Mlr. Whitmee (with surprise.)._... What, Sir ! see my dear wife torn to pieces, like a mouse in the talons of a cat, by that vile wo- man? No, no, Sir; I could stand any thing but that." Air. CHAMZDERs here remarked, that after having been sO scan- dalously treated by his wife, he thought Alr. Whitince would have done right by letting her stand the consequences of enticing another man away from the woman with whom he cohabited. Alr. IV hitmee said, that he could not perceive how he laad been ill-treated bv his wife ? The Magistrate.-" Why, Mr. Whitmee, you must be aware that we have a proof here of the fact of your wife having given informa- tion tothe thieves who robbed you, that *ime officers were on the look-out for them ; and I now tell you, AIr. Whitmee," added the magistrate, "that had it not been for the woman, the thieves would havebeen apprehended, and you would have had your property re. Gtoted."_The defendant ras then discharged. POLICE.