stick for? Boy: What for? why, to keep away any
boys that might want to whack me, to he sure. The
police said that the borough, however, where the
children lived, was crowded with little creatures who
were regularly brought up to the business of alternately
begging and robbing. The eldest of the boys said he
had neither father nor mother, but he lived with a
woman in Mint Street, to whom he paid a penny a night
for his bed, and he grubbed about for his victuals in the
day. The Lord Mayor: I shall cause inquiries to be
made about you, and send you to the House of Occupation.
Boy: Don't do that. If you let me go you shan't have
me anymore, I'll promise you. The Lord Mayor: No.
You shall have some protection. As for the other two,
they shall be whipped in the presence of their parents,
who are here, and discharged.

Several Poor Orange Venders were brought before
the Clerkenwell Police Court on the 20th, charged by
Mr. James, the clerk to the Holborn Union, and several
parish officers, with obstructing the streets and creating
a nuisance by their cries. Mr. Combe, the magistrate,
after hearing some of the cases, in which it was merely
proved that the accused had called out " Two a penny
oranges," and carried their baskets before them, asked
what law was there to prevent parties selling their
fruit in the street? Mr. James said they were in the
habit of standing two or three together, and surely that
was an obstruction. Mr. Combe: Certainly not. Placing
their baskets upon the footway must be proved against
them so as to cause obstruction, but there was no law
to prevent parties selling oranges in the street on Sunday.
Mr. James: They ought to walk on the carriage way. Mr.
Combe: Oh, no! the foot pavement is free for everybody,
and there is no act of parliament to compel people to waik
on the carriage way. An overseer of the parish said
the calling out of oranges on Sunday was an intolerable
nuisance. Mr. Combe: They may call oranges all over
the country if they like. Overseer: I am an overseer,
and the inhabitants expect protection from me. Mr.
Combe: You are not an act of parliament; you are an
overseer. What nuisance is it to call out "Two a penny
oranges?"

A young man was charged with Selling his Fruit
and Assaulting a Policeman. The officer saw the
prisoner selling his fruit, but there was no evidence of
any obstruction, and on the officer taking him into
custody he resisted and struck him. Mr. Combe said
that the constable had no right to interfere with the
prisoner. As he had said before, they had no right to
meddle with poor persons for selling oranges. If not
in the commission of an illegal act the police had no
right to interfere with any one; if they did so they
ought to expect resistance and assault. The charges
accordingly were dismissed.

William Bristol, a young ruffian, was tried on the 21st,
at the Middlesex Sessions, for having Attempted to Steal
from a person unknown. The prisoner in company
with a notorious thief and prostitute, had been detected
by a police officer one evening, in Gray's Inn Lane,
putting his hand into the pocket of a person passing by,
but before he had time to take anything his companion
gave the alarm and they ran away, but the man was
captured. From the evidence given by the police officer
it appeared that the prisoner was a member of a gang of
daring thieves, and the "deputy" or sub-landlord of a
notorious den in Fox Court, Gray's Inn Lane, which
was known as the "Thieves' Kitchen," and which was
the rendezvous of burglars, pickpockets, prostitutes,
and pot stealers; a regular receptacle of stolen property,
and where nightly could be seen thieves, prostitutes,
and beggars, of all ages and of both sexes, huddled
together indiscriminately, there being in some instances
eight or ten men, women and children, all in one bed
together. Some short time before, the officer had been
on duty near Fox Court, and on contriving to peep
into the "Kitchen" through a window, he saw the
prisoner in a room with a line tied across it, and from
this line was suspended a coat, in the pockets of which
were placed pocket-handkerchiefs. A dozen little boys
surrounded the prisoner, and each in turn tried his skill
in removing a handkerchief without moving the coat or
shaking the line. If he performed the manoeuvre with
skill and dexterity, he received the congratulations of
the prisoner; if he did it clumsily or in such a manner
as would have led to detection, had the operation been
performed in the usual manner in the street, the prisoner
beat them with severity, having on the occasion in question
knocked down and kicked two of the boys for not having
exhibited the requisite amount of tact and ingenuity
in extracting the handkerchief. The learned judge said
he regretted that the court had not the power of passing
such a sentence as would rid the country of the prisoner,
but sentenced him to be kept to hard labour for
eighteen calendar months.

Iacchimo Guiccioli, who stated himself to be a Natural
Son of the late Lord Byron, was placed before the
Marylebone police magistrate on the 25th, very nearly
naked, and shivering from head to foot, charged with
being Drunk. He told the magistrate he had but just
returned from the Archipelago, and had fallen in with
some land sharks, who had stripped him of all his
worldly goods and garments. The magistrate cast a
pitying glance at the unfortunate man and dismissed
the case.

On the 27th an inquest was held in Horsemonger
Lane Gaol, touching the death of George Foster, who
committed suicide by hanging himself in one of the cells
in which he was confined under remand from the Southwark
Police Court. The prisoner was charged with
neglect of and cruelty to his child. The Jury returned
the following verdict:—"That the deceased did destroy
himself by hanging himself, but that the jury consider
they have not sufficient evidence as to his state of
mind."

A well-dressed man, who gave the name of Clarke,
but who is known to the Mendicity Society as a
begging-letter writer of the name of Bath Joss, was charged
on the 27th, at the Marlborough Street Police Court,
with having attempted to obtain money from the
Marquis of Anglesey by false and fraudulent representations.
The Marquis's secretary stated that during the previous
week several letters were received by the Marquis
purporting to come from one Robert Clarke, and asking
for pecuniary assistance. The letters were sent to the
Mendicity Society for investigation. Captain Wood,
of the Mendicity Society, called at Uxbridge House,
and it was arranged that a letter should be written to
the applicant, Clarke, to be called for at the Post-office
in the Blackfriars Road, as requested by the applicant.
The secretary wrote a letter, enclosing a shilling, and
stating that the money was in aid of the applicant's present
wants, but if the case turned out to be one worthy of
consideration further assistance should be given. A
mendicity constable went with another constable to
Blackfriars Road, and kept watch at the post-office.
A woman called and asked if there were any letters
for Mr. Robert Clarke. The post-office keeper said
there was a letter, but as it was a registered letter it
could only be delivered to the person to whom it was
addressed. The woman, who was the wife of the
prisoner, said she would inform Mr. Clarke, who would
probably call in the course of the day. Shortly afterwards
the prisoner came into the shop, and representing
himself to be Robert Clarke, the letter was given to
him. The constable recognised the prisoner as an old
acquaintance; and when the prisoner left the shop he
followed him. The prisoner opened the letter and
went down a by-street. Apparently suspecting
something, he threw the letter away and ran off, but was
pursued and secured. He was committed to prison for
two months as a rogue and a vagabond.

A singular case of Affiliation has occurred at Whitehaven.
A woman appeared before the magistrates to
affiliate, not, as in ordinary cases, a child, but in this
case two children upon the same father, the woman
having been delivered of twins! The magistrates
conferred together upon this rather uncommon case. The
clerk suggested it to be actually necessary to make two
distinct orders upon the putative parent, as in case one
of the children died, the other would be left unprovided
for. In answer to a question from the magistrates, the
woman said the children had been duly baptised and
christened, the one named William and the other
Nicholas. The bench awarded Is. 6d. a week for each
child, distinguishing them by name, with the usual
costs.