to agree with Dr. Johnson, that if you abolish it, "what
you gain at one end you will lose at the other." Mr.
Kenealy appeared to have had a tender affection for the
child, and to have treated him with the utmost care,
but it was for the Jury to decide whether the chastisement
had been excessive. The Jury found Kenealy
guilty of a common assault.
On the same day, Louisa Hartley was tried for
attempting to Poison her Father. The circumstances of
this case were mentioned in our last number. The
proof rested almost wholly on the evidence of the father,
who, it appeared, had treated his daughter so ill, and
evinced so much malice towards her, that his testimony
was not considered worthy of credit, and the girl was
acquitted. It was stated that she would be taken
under the care of the Ladies' Committee of the gaol,
and that some measures would be taken for her future
welfare.
Cautley's Divorce Bill came before the House of
Lords on the 10th and 13th. Lieut.-Col. Cautley, of
the East India Company's Service, in the year 1838
married at Calcutta a young lady named Frances Bacon.
In 1843, in consequence of the ill health of their child,
Mrs. Cautley came to England, and was kindly received
by her husband's family. In the end of 1845 Col.
Cautley returned from India, and they lived together
till June, 1846, when, having heard suspicious accounts
of his wife's manner of life in his absence, he made
inquiries, which confirmed his suspicions, and, breaking
open her writing-desk, he found letters from a Major
Cooper, which indicated a guilty connexion between
them. Other circumstances transpired, and Col. Cautley
obtained a divorce in the Ecclesiastical Court, and
damages of £1000. against Major Cooper. Col. Cautley
then returned to India, where he still remains. On the
days above mentioned a great deal of evidence was
taken; and, their lordships considering the case to be
proved, the Bill was read a second time and ordered to
be committed.
The nuisance of Penny Theatres received a check at
the Lambeth Police Court on the 14th. Several men
and women were charged with performing at an
unlicensed theatre; and a dozen others of the lowest grade,
and some of them well-known thieves, were charged
with being a portion of the audience. A police constable
described a visit to the theatre. Accompanied by a
friend, he went to the door, and each having paid his
penny, they entered the place allotted to the audience,
and saw the prisoners on the stage. They were dressed
in character, and were performing in some play.
During the performance, he saw one of the prisoners
pick the pockets of three of the performers, and on each
occasion he was cheered by the audience. Mr. Maud,
addressing Captain Stiles, said, he was out of collar and
wanted £500., upon which the Captain replied that he
had no money to give him. Maud then said, "Then
you must come and do a job with me to-night;" to which
Captain Stiles replied," Very well, I'll go with you, but
it shall be the last time; we have committed many
crimes together, but this shall be the last." The actors
then arranged to commit a burglary and were preparing
a scaling-ladder on the stage to enter a house, when the
police rushed on the stage and secured the prisoners.
The actors were sentenced to a penalty of 20s. each or
fourteen days' imprisonment; and the audience portion
of the prisoners were discharged with a severe caution.
Immediately afterwards, several persons apprehended
as performers and audience at another place of a similar
description, but where the admission was only a half-penny,
were dealt with in the same manner.
On Tuesday the 14th, Henri Joseph Stephan, a
hornplayer in the orchestra of Her Majesty's Theatre,
Plunged from the top of the Duke of York's column,
and was killed on the spot. No special cause was
assigned for the act, but it appeared that for some days
preceding he had been gloomy and unsettled in his
mind. At the inquest a verdict of "Temporary
Insanity" was returned, the jury recommending that a
railing should be placed round the top of the column.
This has since been commenced.
Another Savings Bank Defalcation has transpired,
showing the loose way in which these establishments
have been managed. The Market Weighton Bank, a
branch of the Hull Bank, has been managed for fourteen
years by Mr. Jeremiah Roantree, a draper in the place,
an influential member of the Wesleyan Society, and a
person whose character was beyond suspicion. The
Hull Bank having resolved to investigate the affairs of
its branches, sent a deputation to Market Weighton for
that purpose on the 10th inst. Mr. Roantree requested
them to defer the inquiry till the following week, which
they declined; and he then admitted that out of £8000.
which has passed through his hands, there is a deficit of
no less than £1900. It appears from the books, that a
system of entering fictitious names and abstracting sums
of money has been carried on from the commencement
of Roantree's connexion with the branch. Different
sums, varying from £1 to £85, had been abstracted at
one time. It seems, also, that he had the entire management,
and generally sat alone. He used occasionally to
call in an old director, upwards of seventy years of age,
and has admitted that he was afraid of calling in others
lest the error should be detected. He had also appointed
parties to be directors, and never intimated the fact to
them. In addition to the defalcation at the Bank, his
Liabilities are said to be nearly £3000.
In the bankruptcy of Martin Luther Pritchard, the
Court, on the 15th, gave judgment, allowing the
bankrupt's accounts to pass. The bankrupt was deputy-
chairman of the South-Eastern Railway Company. He
had been clerk to Mr. Forsyth, a Liverpool share-broker,
who took him into partnership in 1839. In 1844,
Forsyth retired, and Pritchard, having taken Dale, his
clerk, into partnership, carried on business till the
bankruptcy in 1849. The transactions of these ten years
were very extensive and complicated; but it appeared from
his statements, that during some period previous to his
bankruptcy, the profits of his business had been above
£7000. a-year. The Court expressed no opinion as to his
conduct as a trader, reserving that point for the question
of the certificate.
Between one and two in the morning of the 16th, the
house of Mr. Richbell, at Wickham St. Paul's, in
Essex, was Broken into by Thieves, who forced open the
front door, and the door of the parlour where Mrs.
Richbell, who is infirm, was sleeping. One man broke
open a bureau, while another endeavoured to stifle Mrs.
Richbell's cries by holding his hand on her mouth. A
servant girl who slept at the back of the house jumped
out of the window, ran to a neighbouring cottage for
help, and brought with her a labourer armed with a
poker. Mr. Richbell, who slept up stairs, got up at the
same time, and the robbers, finding themselves
discovered, made off after a short scuffle, and escaped.
The window from which the courageous girl jumped is
more than twelve feet from the ground.
The case of Edward Thomas Delafield, lately lessee
of the Royal Italian Opera, was again before the
Bankruptcy Court on the 21st, when Mr. Lawrance was heard
in opposition to his application for a certificate, and
Mr. Cooke in support of it. The Commissioner deferred
giving judgment. This case has been frequently before
the pubic. Mr. Delafield entered upon the management
of the opera with a fortune of £90,000; and it
appears that at present the amount of his debts is
nearly £40,000, and of his assets, £1096.
William and Mark Hutchins, and William Marsh, three
boys of from 11 to 13 years old, the victims of Infamous
Parents, were charged on the 21st, at Guildhall, with
picking a boy's pocket. They said that they had been
driven by necessity to commit the crime—their parents
having turned them out of doors, to get their own living
as they best could. It was ascertained by inquiries
that they had obtained a lodging for the night previous
to being taken into custody, for which they agreed to
pay 4d. The mother of Hutchins proceeded to the
lodgings, and took the 4d. as well as the small stock of
congreve matches by which the poor boys had hitherto
obtained a living, since which they had slept under
barrows and carts in Smithfield, and had been for days
without tasting food, until they could no longer bear the
pangs of hunger, and, as a last resource, committed the
theft to obtain bread. They said they could maintain
themselves by selling congreves, if their parents would
not seize upon their stock and proceeds. Alderman
Gibbs then directed the officer to take them to the East
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