furiously quarreling with and attacking her, that a crowd
collected round them, and as the constable who came
up could not persuade her to go home or be quiet, he
was obliged at last to lodge her in the station. There
she was placed in one of the cells, and upon a sergeant
going to visit her about an hour after, he found her
stretched on her side on the floor, a ligature—formed by
tearing off the hem of her garment—bound firmly round
her neck, and exhibiting such indications of death, that
it was with extreme difficulty, even with surgical aid,
that she was at length restored to consciousness.—A
third charge was then taken against a well-dressed
young woman, named Sarah Richardson, in whose case
it appeared that she was out sweethearting with an
admirer named Lynch, a plasterer at Holloway; when,
while walking together along the towing-path of the
Regent's Canal, near the New North-road, between 3
and 4 o'clock in the morning, some lovers' quarrel ensued
between them, and without further ado she suddenly
shook herself off his arm and plunged head foremost
into the water. The young man instantly dashed in
after her, but owing to the depth of water at that part
she sank several times, and it was not till she was
nearly lifeless that he succeeded in ultimately getting
her to the bank, when she was found to be in such a
dangerous state, both of body and mind, she repeatedly
declaring, upon recovering her senses, that she would
complete the attempt on the first opportunity, that her
sweetheart was compelled to give her up to the police.
The women were all committed for a week, that the
chaplain of the gaol might bring them to a due sense of
their conduct.

A Matter of very great Importance to Emigrants was
brought before Alderman Sir Robert Carden, at the
Mansion House, on the 21st inst. Captain Lean, R. N.,
the government emigration agent, accompanied by some
working men of respectable appearance, appeared to
make a public complaint against a company called in
the prospectus "The Australian Gold Company and
Emigration Company," the offices of which were stated
to be held at No. 6, Austin-friars. Some persons who
had engaged and partly paid for their passage to
Australia, at the offices of the company, induced by the
manifold advantages it held out to the industrious,
found that they were the victims of a nefarious fraud;
that the owners of the Camilla, the vessel in which
they were told they were to sail to the land of promise,
disclaimed all knowledge of the directors; and that one
of the clerks, who seemed to be a leading character in
the management, and bad given receipts for the cash,
was an inmate of Whitecross-street prison. Captain
Lean, upon hearing the statements of the poor men,
went to the offices of the company and made every
effort to obtain restitution, but in vain. In the list of
the directors in the prospectus he had observed the
name of a nobleman, and the names of several
gentlemen of unquestionable respectability; but,
upon making the inquiries which the nature of the
proceedings described to him had rendered necessary,
he was assured that one and all denied not only any
participation in the profits, but any knowledge of the
concern. He applied by letter to Captain Smith, R. N.,
whose name appeared in the prospectus under the head
of secretary to the company, and that gentleman with
great readiness came forward, disavowed the secretaryship,
and expressed his willingness to go before the
Lord Mayor for the purpose of proving that he was
not connected with the scheme; and of representing
that, to the best of his belief, the other gentlemen, who
were named in the printed paper, were not by any
means cognisant of the proceedings of those who had
possessed themselves of the money of the emigrants.
Captain Lean produced receipts for several sums of
money, signed some of them by the person in Whitecross
-street Prison, and some by another clerk to the
company, who did not think proper to attend at the
Mansion House, although informed of the intention of
the complainants to appeal to the City authorities.
The Alderman said that the prospectus had been before
the public for some time, and that it had been advertised
in the newspapers. If so, he held that every
gentleman whose name appeared in it as a director was
responsible for all the money received at the Company's
offices. Captain Smith said that he wished to make
an explanation as to the use of his name in the
prospectus as secretary. He had nothing to do with that
office. He had distinctly declared that he would not
act as secretary, and he did not know who had published
the prospectus and placed him in that character.
He had every reason to suppose that the gentlemen
named as directors were wholly ignorant of the
transactions in question, and that the blame lay with the
person who was locked up in Whitecross-street prison,
and the other individual who had been acting with him
in a subordinate capacity. Sir R. W. Carden: Whom
did you know then amongst those who formed the
company? Captain Smith: I know the person just
described as a prisoner in Whitecross-street, but I had
a very different opinion of him from that which I now
entertain. I was never at the offices but once, and
when I was there I was told that one of the gentlemen
mentioned in the prospectus as a director was in the
chair, and that the noble lord also stated to be a director
was present. Sir R. W. Carden: How long has this
prospectus been out? Captain Smith: About three
weeks. It has not to my knowledge been advertised in
the public papers. I think it necessary for me to state
that I cautioned the parties whom I believe to be
principally instrumental to these transactions against
committing themselves by taking deposits. Sir R. W.
Carden: Well, then, you certainly appear a secretary,
and if you did not upon finding yourself, to your surprise
and indignation, represented as a character which
did not belong to you, write to the directors, and
publicly disavow the imputation, you are, in my opinion,
in a state of undeniable responsibility as to all the
pecuniary matters in which the company is involved.
The alderman then asked if any of the directors of the
Australian Gold Company and Emigration Company
were present. There was no answer. Capt. Smith:
I wrote to them, requesting their attendance. Sir
R. W. Carden: How many persons were in the board-
room when you called at the offices? Captain Smith:
I understood from the clerks that there were four,
amongst whom was the noble lord and the attorney's
clerk. Sir R. W. Carden: How much money had been
received altogether? Captain Smith: I have no idea
of the receipts. Sir R. W. Carden: Who was the
cashier? Captain Smith; I do not know; but I believe
the clerk alluded to did all the business, and that
the directors were not aware that anything of a
dishonourable kind was thought of in the concern. The
alderman expressed his determination to sift the matter
to the bottom, and ordered summonses to be issued to
the directors to appear on the 23rd. On the 24th the case
again underwent a long investigation before Alderman
Carden. The justice room was crowded with gentlemen
connected with the Stock Exchange, and others who
were interested in the proceedings. Lord Kilworth and
some of the other gentlemen whose names were
mentioned in one of the printed humbug lists, and who, as
it afterwards appeared, knew nothing whatever of the
company, were in attendance. Among them were
Mr. Ruston Reed, Major Hawkes, and Mr. Dawson.
These gentlemen had been summoned to attend in
consequence of the issue of the prospectus which
mentioned their names. Henry Graham Montague, who
appeared to be the acting manager of the concern, and
C. J. Tripe, a young man who seemed to have acted
under the control of Mr. Montague, were put to the
bar upon the charge of having cheated and defrauded
the emigrants. Several witnesses described the way in
which they had been imposed upon. John Jones, of
Dalston, said, that seeing, as he was passing along
Austin Friars, a board relative to the Australian Mining
and Emigration Company, he went in and saw Mr.
Tripe, and two gentlemen, and two boys. Mr. Tripe
told him of a vessel for Australia, called the Camilla,
lying at the West India Docks. He went and looked
at her, and afterwards went again to the office with
four friends, where he saw Mr. Montague and Mr. Tripe,
and agreed to pay £22 each for their passage. Jones
paid Mr. Montague £11 down, the balance to be paid
on embarkation. Mr. Tripe counted the money and
put it in a box. Jones said he hoped the company was
all right. "Oh yes," said they, "no fear of that, the