directors are all respectable gentlemen." He afterwards
called several times at the office, but saw only a couple
of boys, and afterwards learned that Mr. Montague, to
whom he had paid his money, was in prison. He had
demanded a birth in the Camilla, but was refused.
James Thorne, a boy of sixteen, said he had been
engaged by Mr. Tripe as a clerk in the Australian
Mining and Emigration Office. There were two other
boys. No book was kept except a call book, in which
the names of people who called were put down.
Montague and Tripe sat in a private room, called the
board-room. He was in the office six weeks, but
received payment for no more than two, and when he
asked for his salary Mr. Tripe told him to wait. The
list of proprietors of the Australian Gold Diggings
Company, to which was attached the name of Mr.
Montague, as mineralogist, &c., &c., was handed up to
the Alderman, who said: "I have ascertained that the
names of the gentlemen put forward in this list have
been every one used without their knowledge of the
concern, or any one connected with it, and there are
several other impositions of the kind passing before the
eyes of the public daily." When the examination was
finished, the Alderman expressed his satisfaction that
there was not the slightest imputation against any of
the gentlemen whose names had been put down in the
prospectus without their sanction. With respect to
the two prisoners it was his intention on a future day
to commit them for trial, and he hoped the public
would exercise the utmost vigilance in dealing with
mining and emigration companies, particularly at such
a time. Montague, who was brought by habeas from
the Queen's Bench prison, was then delivered into the
custody of the sheriff's officer and taken back with a
magisterial detainer to that place of security, and Tripe
was conveyed to the Compter.

At the Lewes Assizes, on the 23rd, Charles Staden
and John James were tried for a conspiracy to cheat a
young gentleman named Hamp, by Fraudulent play at
Cards. John Broome, the pugilist, was to have been
included in the same charge, but he failed to appear to
take his trial. A warrant was issued for his apprehension,
and the trial of the other two defendants was proceeded
with. Mr. Hamp's story of the manner in which
he had been plucked was corroborated by the other
evidence. He said he was twenty-two, and of no profession.
When he came of age he was entitled to considerable
property; and he came to London in July last to see
the Exhibition, and took up his quarters at the house
of Broome, the pugilist, the Rising Sun, in Piccadilly.
He accompanied Broome and a party of his friends to
Brighton, to see the races. After the races were over,
Staden and James were introduced to the party, and
they all dined at the house of a person named Mutten.
On the following day they again went to Mutten's, and
began to toss for "the odd man." He lost £10 or £20
at the tossing, at least he had that amount when he
went in, and he had nothing when he went out. They
began tossing for half-crowns, and increased the stake
to half-a-sovereign, and then a sovereign, and while
they were tossing they drank brandy and water and
American punch. He did not know who ordered or
who paid for the liquor. When they left Mutten's
house he believed they all four went to Staden's house,
and when they went in, brandy, rum, and gin were put
upon the table, and they all drank some. Broome then
asked Staden if he had got any cards in the house, and
he said he believed he had a pack, but he did not know
whether the children had got hold of them, and he
shortly afterwards brought out a pack of cards, which
appeared quite clean, and not at all as though they had
been in the hands of children. They then proposed
playing at cards, and the witness said he did not
understand any game. Broome then threw himself upon a
sofa, and apparently went to sleep, and the witness, and
James, and Staden proceeded to play at "Wilful Murder."
He did not know how long they played, but he
did not get to his lodgings until six o'clock the following
morning. He did not know whether he had any money
in his pocket at the time he was playing, but when his
losses amounted to one hundred pounds, Staden
produced a blank stamp from his pocket, and witness put
his name across it. He at first objected to put his
name to the stamp, and said he did not understand
bills; but Staden replied that he was a straightforward
fellow, and he liked business done, and he
then wrote his name on the stamp. He lost £300 altogether
in this manner; and each time his losses amounted
to £100 Staden produced a bill for him to sign; but
upon the third stamp he merely wrote "accepted," and
forgot to put his name. The defendant James filled up
two of the bills. When he got home to his lodgings he
threw himself on the bed with his clothes on, and about
eleven o'clock the same morning, while he was having
his breakfast, Staden came in, and he heard him say
something about money, and a share of a £100; and he
then told witness that he had not signed the third bill,
and he gave it to him, and he signed it. On being cross-
examined, Mr. Hamp admitted that he had been at
Broome's house since this transaction occurred; and it
also appeared that Broome had stayed at Mr. Hamp's
house in the country during the last hunting season.
The Lord Chief Justice asked the prosecutor how he
could entertain a man at his house for a fortnight whom
he charged with robbing him. Mr. Hamp said that
Broome came to his house and he allowed him to stay—
that was all he knew about it. The Lord Chief Justice,
in summing up, said it was clear that the prosecutor
had acted with a great deal of indiscretion and folly in
the transaction, but that afforded no ground of excuse
for the defendants, and if the jury should be of opinion
that the evidence was sufficient to satisfy them that the
defendants conspired together for the purpose of
plundering him, it would be their duty to say so by
their verdict. The jury returned a verdict of guilty
against both defendants, and they were sentenced to
imprisonment with hard labour for two years. This
case ought to have been tried at the last assizes, but
the prosecutor did not appear to give evidence, and his
recognisance in the sum of £500 was ordered to be
estreated. It now appeared that Mr. Hamp had gone
to Boulogne to avoid appearing on that occasion. The
Lord Chief Justice directed that he should enter into a
recognisance of £500 to appear and give evidence
against Broome at the next assizes.

C. Collins, an old man of shabby-genteel appearance,
was charged at the Westminster Police Court on the
13th, with Fraudulently Obtaining a Portrait of the
Earl of Desart. H. Cox, butler to the Earl, said that
the prisoner, after writing to his lordship, came to his
house in 1848, and had an interview with him. His
object in writing and coming was to obtain his
lordship's portrait, to have a copy engraved from it.
Prisoner subsequently sent a man for the portrait in
1848, and it was taken away by him. About five weeks
ago the Earl received the following letter, enclosing a
pawnbroker's ticket of the portrait.

"My Lord,—I have really now no other remedy but to write
to your lordship and disclose what must be to me most painful;
I struggled, but failed In my efforts, to publish your lordship's
portrait in my national work of eminent Conservatives, and
during the Whig administration my efforts were all in vain.
A distress on my property was the result, and in order to save
the property of others, I was compelled to adopt a most
disagreeable mode to do so. Your lordship's portrait, amongst
the rest, is in perfect safety at a considerable expense to
myself. How, my lord, I rejoiced when Lord Derby's Government
was installed! I made myself quite certain of conquering
my difficulties, by proceeding with my national work, and my
resolution was formed to place your portrait in hand forthwith;
but, my lord, unexpected troubles have come upon me, and you
cannot possibly conceive my position. I inclose the document
to show the portrait is in safety; but, my lord, not being able
to conquer the troubles with which I am visited, I have been
advised to have resort to your lordship without loss of time. I
will not enter into details as to my present position; suffice it
to say, that it is of the most excruciating nature.—I have, &c,
"C. Collins."

The "document" alluded to as enclosed, was the
pawnbroker's ticket of the portrait, pledged without the
frame in which the accused had received it, for £2. The
police-officer who apprehended the prisoner, found in
his lodgings thirty-seven more pawnbroker's tickets for
portraits and miniatures, besides a great number of
sealed letters, addressed to different members of
parliament just elected. They contained a printed circular
intimating that the author was publishing the memoirs
and portraits of eminent Conservatives, dedicated by the