was not so, for on being taken into the Lord Mayor's
drawing-room its talk and behaviour showed that it had
been brought up in a gentleman's family. The child
talked of his "mamma" in the country, of Canterbury,
of his "nice new frock," and so on. He said his name
was Dupuis, not Thompson, as the woman called herself.
The pretended mother consented to resign the child.
Since that time, every effort has been made to discover
his parents, but in vain. Now grown a handsome lad
of thirteen, Dupuis attended with Mr. Edwards at
Guildhall Police Office, to tell Alderman Humphery,
the Lord Mayor of 1843, that he is about to emigrate to
Melbourne, to join Dr. Bowie, who has settled there.
The Alderman directed that £1 should be given to him
from the poor-box, and £5 remitted to Melbourne for
his use. He sails for Australia in the Blackwall emigrant-
ship from Southampton.

The trials arising out of the Wigan Election Riots
took place at the Liverpool assizes on the 21st. John
Blinkhorn and John Leadbetter were convicted of a riot
on the 7th July last at Wigan. The two prisoners
belonged to what was called the Orange party, and
Blinkhorn in particular was exceedingly active in a
disturbance which arose between that party and the Irish.
—Joseph Acton, John Acton, Patrick Hagan, James
Kerrigan, Terence McGhin, Simon Dunn, Thomas
Conway, Michael Kelly, all members of what was
known as the Irish party, were also found guilty of a
riot on the 8th of July.—In passing sentence, Lord
Campbell dwelt with some severity on the Conduct of
both parties in reviving feuds between the lower orders,
on account of their happening to belong to different
countries, or to profess different creeds. In the hope
that all would henceforth live together in harmony and
peace, he should inflict only a month's imprisonment on
each prisoner, excepting Blinkhorn, who was sentenced
to three months' hard labour.

At Guildhall on the 21st, Eliza Bently, a good-looking
young woman, was charged with Attempting to commit
Suicide. The prisoner was seen by a policeman rushing
down the steps of Blackfriars bridge on the previous
night; he followed her, and was just in time to prevent
her from plunging into the water. He took her to the
station, where she expressed a determination to destroy
herself, and even attempted to hang herself with her
shawl in the cell. She was drunk, and had been in
custody on several occasions for similar attempts. Her
husband attended, and complained of her drunken
habits, and she complained of her husband's conduct
towards her. He earned as much as 36s. per week, and
spent it all in profligacy. It was that which first drove
her to drinking. She earned money herself as a singer.
She was married very young, and had had ten children.
It was finally arranged that she should make herself
chargeable to the parish, so as to enable them to compel
her husband to support her.

A case of Skittle-Sharping was brought before the
sitting magistrate at the Mansion-house on the 21st.
John Mulloney, George Collins, and Samuel Ridgely
were charged with having cheated Daniel Barker of
cash, amounting to between £3 and £4 at skittles. The
prosecutor stated that two of the three prisoners induced
him to play against the third, by offering to bet upon
him and supplying him with spirits and water. They
had, it appeared, tried in vain to be allowed to play in
some grounds, because the landlords happened to
suspect one or two of them of sharp practice at the game.
At last they took the prosecutor to the Sun public-house,
Bishopsgate-street, where they asked to have the ground
to themselves. The landlord consented to the proposal,
and suspecting that there was some intention of making
a victim, immediately afterwards communicated with
Ward, one of the City Detective Police, who entered
the premises in plain clothes and watched the whole of
the proceedings of the prisoners. It was quite evident
to him that the prisoners were in confederacy to plunder
the prosecutor, who at first played for 5s., and was
allowed to win, and afterwards played as high as £1 a
game, at which, as a matter of course, he lost. As they
were all retiring, at about twelve o'clock, the prisoners
were astonished to find themselves brought before the
bar by the officer, who had taken care to have two other
constables in readiness to assist him. Ward, the officer,
said, that in consequence of what Mr. Towsay, the
landlord of the inn, said to him, he went into the skittle
ground, and looked on at the play. He saw at once that
the three prisoners had a "plant" upon the prosecutor.
One of them, in setting up the pins, took care to keep
them at a distance from each other, when the prosecutor
was going to knock them down, and to put them close
together when the other player (his confederate) was to
fling the ball at them. The two fellows who were not
playing were loud in betting in favour of the prosecutor,
and took care, at the same time, that he should not be
without the spirituous excitement to continue the game
till all the money he had in his possession was lost. "I
have known Ridgely," said the officer, "to be a skittle
sharp for a considerable time, and I have known the
others to be the constant companions of people of the
kind. The moment they thought they had all the
young man's money safe amongst them, they coolly put
on their coats and were walking away, but they were
immediately introduced to the station house." The
Alderman asked whether any particular conversation
took place when the prisoners were apprehended? Ward
said one of them had offered to return the money to the
prosecutor, and wished to know whether that would not
satisfy him. As they were going towards the station-
house, one of the prisoners threw away a counterfeit
sovereign, which was picked up in the street, and upon
the person of another of them was found another sham
piece of money. These counterfeits were no doubt the
money which the prisoners had flashed about in the
skittle ground while the betting was going on, for no
other money was found in their possession with the
exception of that of which the prosecutor had been
defrauded, all of which was taken from the pocket of
Ridgely, with whom he had been playing. Alderman
Moon said the case appeared to him to be just the sort
of case that was adapted to the Old Bailey, and was sure
that the prisoners represented a very numerous class of
her Majesty's subjects. Mulloney said—I wish to know
why I am brought here. This young man bets with me,
and wins my money, and now I am pulled up because
another wins his money. Do you call that fair? I
think that skittle-sharping, and no mistake. Collins—I
had nothing to do with the game at all, but was a mere
looker-on. I have often played with the prosecutor,
and he has won money upon my play. Ridgely—I
don't know what he wants of me. I played a manly
game with him, and then, because I gained the victory,
he gives me in charge. There was no sharping upon
my side. All that's in it is that I am the best player.
The prisoners were committed for trial.

A Chancery suit, Beckford v. Jasper,—begun above
a hundred years ago, is now in a fair way of being
wound up. The original plaintiff was Thomas Beckford,
executor of one James Pope, a merchant, in Madeira,
and Edward Jasper, also a merchant, was the original
defendant. Jasper owed Pope £10,000, and Pope died
in 1743, and in 1748 Beckford, his executor, filed this
bill against Jasper, who died before he could put in an
answer. The suit was revived against Jasper's executors,
and in 1753 the cause was heard before Lord
Chancellor Hardwicke, and referred to the Master to take
accounts. In 1761 and in 1772 further proceedings were
taken, and £630 in Bank Stock and £555 were lodged to
the credit of the cause, which then slept until 1851, when
Mr. J. D. Wadham obtained administration to Pope,
the original testator, and revived the bill against
Jasper's representatives. The funds to the credit of the
cause had, by accumulation of dividends, bonuses, &c.,
amounted to £70,000. Wadham had to take out administration
to five intermediate estates, and to pay £778 for
the stamp duties. The case is now wound up by an
order to pay the costs of all parties out of the funds in
court, and to share the remainder according to the
respective rights of the claimants.

A young Austrian, named Francis Thopier, was
charged at the Mansion-house, on the 24th, with having
Attempted to destroy himself, by throwing himself from
a boat into the Thames. The young man, whose wild
look indicated great distress of mind, had been dragged
out of the water by a waterman named Carpenter. A
medical gentleman, who was acquainted with part of
his history, said the unfortunate young man was