Star. — London, England, 1827-09-05 00:00:00

BARBAROUS MURDER AT PRESTON. FROM OUR OWN RIMORTIR. This town was tnrow•n into the gteat'estconsterna tion by the perpetration of a diabolical murder oni Saturday right, or early on Sunday morning last. A poor old man named Edward Gregson, who kept' a small chandler-shop in Bridge-street, some few week► hack took compassion upon a youth whom chancel threw in his way, who was in the most abject distress, and the old man permitted him to come backwards and forwards to the house, and his table was always at his service—and i: is believed he is the fiend beneath whose hand his benefactor has fallen a victim. Late on Satur day night last, the old man's brother, his son, two other friends, and the su•pected man, were at his house and drank two quarts of ale, and about eleven o'clock they went away, the stranger going out first, not stopping Tor the rest. The old man said he should go to bed di rectly, and desired his son to call for him next morning to go to the Roman Catholic Chapel. The son then Went home, and heard his father fasten his door. Nest Morning (Sunday) about eleven o'clock he called and found the door on ajar—he called his father several times, and not receiving any answer he went up stairs, when to hie horror he beheld the mangled body of his aged parent stretched across the bed, dead and told. The affrighted youth ran into the street, calling " Murder, murder !" as loud as he was able, and it being church time, vast crowds of persons flocked to the dreadful spot. The constables of the town soon came; and Thomas Miller, Esq. the Mayor, was instantly made acquainted with the san guinary deed. The Mayor directed that instant inquiry should be made round the town as to what strangers were about, and whe her any persons were seen near the house during the night or early on Sunday morning; but, we regret to say, all efforts to trace the assassin have as yet proved useless. The murdered man, when discovered by his son, was deluged in blood—he was partly dressed in his Sunday clothes, so that it would appear the horrid act had been committed not many hours, when young Gregson went to the house. There were two dreadful wounds in the throat, and the poor old man's hands were nearly cut to piece% as if done by his gra•ping the instrument with which the murder was effected. It was always thought Gregson had a hoard of money, and it is therefore believed that that was the object the villain had in view in taking the old man's life, as all the drawers and other places have been ran sacked. Search has been made every where for the youth ,►ho was fostered by the deceased while living, and nothing wha ever can be heard of him. INQUEST ON THE BODY. A respectable Jury was empannelled on Monday Morning, at eleven o'clock, by THOMAS MILLIa, Esq. the Mayor and Coroner, at the Town Hall, to inquire into the circumstances connected with the horrid affair. The Town Hall. and indeed the town itself, presented a scene of the greatest bustle during the investigation, and anything at all relative to the horrid affair was caught up with the grt atest eagerness. The following witnesses were examined: John Greg on—l am a weaver; the deceased was my brother, and was nearly sixty years of age ; he lived by himself, and had the care at a small buster's shop for Mr. Birkett, in Bridge -street, Preston. On the night of Saturday fortnight, between eight and nine o'clock, I called at my brother's house to purchase some arti cles, as I generally did, and I then saw a young man sitting there, apparently between twenty and twenty ire years of age ; he was dressed in a black coat and a dark pair of trowsers ; I asked my brother, when I had an opportunity, who be was? and he said it was an acquaintance, and he was a fustian -cutter, from Man chester, out of employ. I then went away, leaving the young man there. On last Saturday night I went there again, about eight o'clock ; my brother was then alone. I made some purchases, and went home, and returned again about nine, and then I saw the same young man ; he was then dressed very genteelly in black, and a nice white shirt, plaited in front ; I sat with him for more than a quarter of an hour, and we never spoke; he had a brown completion, but I did not notice the colour of his hair. My nephew John came in, and the deceased produced a sample of Ilia] oats, arid aei nversation arose respecting them. The stranger joined in it. He spoke in a very genteel manner, and appeared to be well brought up. He appeared_ like a clerk, and his hands seemed white and soft. My nephew proposed some ale, and I fetched a quart, part of which the young man paid for; when that was drank we had another, and two men named Lund and Daw son, sons-in-law to the deceased, came in and partook of it. I remained there till about half-past 10 o'clock, when my brother (the deceased) said, " come, lads, an't thou going home, I want to go to bed ?" The young man then jumped up and went out, and I followed him immediately; we walked together over the Worsted Factory Bridge, and he turned one way and I the other, and I have never seen him since. I went home, and the following morning a person told me my brother was killed in his bed. By a Juror My brother had on, on Saturday night vhen I left him, a jacket with cotton sleeves; and when I saw him alter he was murdered, he had on a clean shirt and gray pantaloons, which he usually went to chapel in. This witness was so powerfully affected while giving his evidence, that be could scarcely proceed. John Gregson, the son of the deceased, corroborated the testimony of the last witness, adding, that when he left his father's house with Lund and Dawson, his father desired him to call for him to go to chapel neat morning, Which he promised to do. About eleven o'clock on Sun day mottling he called according to the arrangement, and found the door of the shop ajar; he went in and took a seat in the shop, from whence he could see under hi. father's bed room door, and in the room he could see his shoes, and some papers of halfpence strew. ed about the room. He thought all was not right and instantly opened the do: r, and he then beheld the old man lying across the bed, with part of his Sunday clothes on, qeite dyad, and weltering in his blood ; the wains e^t and ceiling • were sprinkled also • with blood ; he embed an immediate alarm, and many people came to Ins assistance. la answer to several qoestions from the Coroner and Jury,the witness said that the young man was quite a stinger to him, that he was of very genteel manners, ~4 1 be spoke in a tone superior to the middling cl a s s ''' PeoPle; be seemed to be about twenty rats of age . The violets was not aware wh.t properlyhis father haJ, 'list believes, be had some. His father kept gold and Isilver op stairs, but in what place he did not know. Dawson and Lund, the two persliss, sons-in-lsw to the deceased, gave similar testimony as the last witness 04 to what transpired on Saturday night; the only ad dkitaal evidence that they gm was, that sbe vrane, young man spoke but little while they were there, and" that he was an extremely genteel young man, and his hand was particularly soft. Mr. Joseph Bradley, a surgeon of Preston, stated that he was called in to see the deceased on Sunday forenoon, about half-past eleven o'clock, and found him lying across the bed partly dressed—there was a very large cut in the throat, which appeared to have been done in a very careless manner, and completely severing his windpipe; the tight temporal and frontal bones were fractured, as was also the back part of the scull. He looked about the room to see if he could find the in strument with which the injuries had been inflicted, but could find nothing. In the room below stairs he found tongs by the side of the fireplace, which upots close inspection with a magnifying glass of low power, be discovered marks of blood, and some human hair adhering to them, they also appeared as if they had been rubbed in the ashes, as if to eradicate the blood stains.— The ring-finger of the deceased was broken, and the left elbow was much bruised, and the blood had spirted upon the ceiling and against the walls. Witness is po sitive that the deceased could not have inflicted the wounds himself. It being now five o'clock it was suggested by the Coroner that the inquiry should adjourn, in order that time should be given to the officers in discovering the' young man, to whom at present great suspicion is at tached. It was subsequently agreed that the Inquest should adjoutu for that purpose for a fortnight.—Adjourned accordingly. IRISH REAPERS. Last week a detachment of the Irish legion at present quartered on Scotland, made a descent upon a farm in the parish of Linton, near Edinburgh, and on being re fused employment by the farmer, they very coolly—. like the good.natured brownies of yore—took his rural affairs under their own gratis superintendence. The reapers, it appears, had called at the farm in question upon a Saturday, and the good man of the house having some trifling out-door work to perform, he charitably employed the greater part of them that day, and also indulged them with bed and board over the Sunday. oa,Monday morning they were dismissed with breakfast, 'the farmer having no further occasion for their sea vices. The poor fellows, however, felt too comfortable under the roof of their kind employer, to take leave without expressing their reluctance to depart. " Och," said the seeming patriarch of the tribe, " just /aye us alone, master, and we'll cut your crops." The farmer assured them he had but onefseid ready for the sickle, and that his own servants were as yet sufficient for the task. " Ah ! master," continued the importunate Pat 'ander, " be airy now, and just give us our wait, and we'll reip the crop as it ripens." The farmer, however, decidedly ordered them away, and betook him to the business of his farm. The Irishmen also departed, but not, it would seem, to seek a new master ; for about mid-day the astounded husbandman lilted up his ryes and beheld the whole of them " kemping like deevils" among his corn, and lo! the half of the " one ripe field" was already in stooks! The farmer tried to be angry, but the oddity of the scene before him, and sympathy' for the destitute actors, overcame his rising wrath; he gave them mait for another season; and up to this day, we believe, these honest Hibernians continue their gra tuitous operations in .Linton, with seemingly as little anxiety about fee or reward, as the brownie 'dept Aitken DI um.—Scotaman. Last week Mrs. PRITCHARD, the landlady of the Nag's I Head Inn, Roas, died, in consequence of fright, occasioned by the sting of a wasp. Wednesday evening, a cow, the property of James Vaughan, a tenant of General Fitzgerald, residing near Moy Castle, within a mile and a half of Lattincit, brought forth four calves! The cow and calves are quite healthy.—Limeriek Friday as an hostler employed in one of the stables in Leith -street, Edinburgh, was descending from the hay loft, be fell against one of the horses, and the frightened animal gave him a violent kick, which killed him on the spot. Yesterday three old houses, situated in Dean's-yard, St. Giles's, which had been condemned, suddenly tum bled to the ground, with a crash that appalled the neighbourhood. Not a single individual received any injury, the inhabitants having vacated possession on Saturday. Last evening an Inquest was held before THOMAS SHELTON, Esq. at St. Thomas's Hospital, on view of the body of Alexander Brackenridge. By the evidence of Mr. John Penn, engineer, of Greenwich, who saw the accident which caused the man's death, it appeared that the deceased was employed on the new invented steam engine for the purpose of discharging bullets; about three o'clock on Friday last he was working the pump to fill the generators—that by some means the two pistons b.came disjointed, which was the cause of steam get ting into the machine; this made the valve rebound, and part of the engine flew with immense force agaiast the eye of the deceased. He was immediately conveyed to the Hospital, where he lived but a short time. Ver dict—Accidental Death. Sunday night last a very audacious robbery was committed upon the person of Richard Mansell, a ser• vant, we believe, of Mr. Hardman's, who resides at Pendleton. The young man, it appeared, had spent thiafternoon with two grenadiers of the 56th Regiment of Foot, now stationed in the Salford barracks, with whom be remained at the Bull's Head until eight o'clock, when, being desirous of returning home, he asked them if they would bear him company. The soldiers, whose names are Patrick Leary and John . Jones, consented, and they set out across the fields.! When they had proceeded about a mile and a half,l Mansell said that he had occasion to call at a house, that lay on the road side, and was upon the point of turning up a lane which led to it, when both soldiers laid hold of him, and said he should not leave their company, since they had enlisted him, and were deter- 1 mined to take him to the sergeant. Mansell knowing this to be a falsehood, struggled violently to regain his liberty. but to no purpose; they flung hint down, took his watch from his fob, and ran off, but were afterwards taken into custody, and cartied before the sitting,Ma• gistrate at the New Bailey Court House; when evidence being adduced sufficient to satisfy the mind of the Ma gistrate that the case ought to go before a Jury, they were folly committed to. Lancaster to take their trial. their at the Assizes.--Bollon Express. CORN EXCHANGE, MARK-LANE, Sari. 5. " The supplies (1,4)0 qrs. of Wheat, 40 qrs. or Barley, 70 qrs. of Oats. and 5,200 .ac►s of Flour,) since Monday being unusually small. our market was expected to bare been brisk ; but Ibis being Wed ricsday, when tio country buyers attend, and ample stocks of . the different sorts of Grain remaining on band, little or no kind of bud. mat was done, and prices mus: be nominally quoted at on Mouttj. GLOAMING. • There is a beauty to the grey twilight, • Which minds unmusical can Dever know} ♦ !foil' quietude, that yields to woe A phlselew pie , fraught with pure delight I The aspect of the mountains huge, that brave - And bear upon their breasts. the rollfng storms: • And tile soft twinkling of the stars, that pave ' Heaven's highway with their bright and burning forms; The rustle of the dark boughs overhead ; The murmurs of the torrent far away; The last notes of the blackbird, and the bay Of sullen watch-dog, from the far fann4teadd— All waken thoughts of Being's early day, Loves quench'd, hopes put, friends lost, and pleasures fled DATA. AMERICAN THEATRICAL ENGAGEMENTS. The following h a statement of the sums paid to various London Performers, by the Manager of the Philadelphia and Baltimore Theatres, taken horn the books of the Treasurer: ge. a. d. Dollars. Mr. George Cooke 8,554 1 6 . 14,900 Mr. Kean (Ist engagement) 2,386 5 0 . 10,600 Mr. Kean (Id engagement) 698 1 9 . . 3,100 1 Mr. Matthews 1,648 8 0 . 7,500, Mr. Phillips ........... ..... .......:: : 01, 1,389 6 4 . 6,200 Mr. Maeready Miss L. Kelly 1,151 IS 0 . 6,100 Mr. Iscledon ..... ........... l,OOO 0 0 . 4,450 Mr. James Waßack Mr. and Mrs. Bartley 428 8 0 . 1,900• Mrs. Knight (late Miss Posey) THEATRALIA. SALARIES OF PERFORMERS. Mrs. BuTLatt, who was introduced to the Stage by Charles H. and was the daughter of a decayed Knight,' rose afterwards to great estimation, and she played the, principal characters in Dioeksian, the Chances, and in Arthur and Emmeline, now performing at the English Opera House. We have the testimony of a contem porary to spew that she was " a hired actress," and that , she had only a salary of 40s. per week. When she wished to obtain an advance of ss. per week, it was re- i On the ground that she had already as much as any member of the company, and that the Managers could not afford to allow her more. She accordingly, in a fit of anger, left the King's Theatre and went to Dublin. The profits of what were called " the sharers" of the different companies, of course depended upon the receipts at the doors. Colley Cibber tells us, that re gular salaries to actors and actresses began under Swiney at the Haymarket, but the fact is otherwise, and stipulated weekly stipends to performers, who had no share in the property of the House,were known as long since as the reign of Elizabeth. Thomas Heywood, the old dramatist, who as,serts that he either wrote or had a hand in 220 plays or dramatic performances in 1598, was a " hited actor" to Philip Henslowe, at a salary of ss. per week for tle first year, and 6s. BJ. per week for the second. ORIGIN OF BENEFITS. Mrs. BARRY is recorded as the first performer, male or female, who ever had, what is now understood by the term, a benefit. This privilege was procured for her through the influence of James 11. and . she alone possessed it until just before the commencement of the eighteenth century. The poverty of .the divided thee. trical companies then induced the managers to employ this expedient for paying their actors and actresses more directly out of the pockets of the public, and it not un frequently happened (at least the performers made the accusation) that the patentees appropriated to themselves all the proceeds, under the pretext of house expenses, and left the performers to their remedy. EPIGRAM BY LEWIS. . _. The following, in the hand-writing of the celebrated Lewis, the comedian, is in the possession of an auto graph collector ; it was evidently the authorship'of the performer : " Biu Smith said, when I last played Auer, That winter I should not get over ; With reason too, unleu I blunder— I sbaU get over, or get under." SIR R. BLACK MORWS FROTH. Sir Richard Blacktnore at his table • Endeavoned all that be was able T. please his guests by bounteous fare; His conversation they could spare. Ose day his boy—the joke's not stale— Drawing a cork of bottled ale Under his knightly master's nose, Sprinkled the liquor o'er his clothes. Sir Richard said, " That boy is quick, He's quite a wit, but that's a trick. •He serves me almost every week." Cried Otway, " We've not Ur to seek, Why yen to part, with him are loth, Since he provides you with your , freth I You scarcely treat him as is fit. Boy! here's a shilling for your wit; You'd done a service to the State To give by far less froth of late." MADAME MARA. Madame MARA — MLOIICe singing a song of labo rious and brilliant execution, when some person in the gallery imitated the squalling of a cat, and put her quite out. She was in a fury, and threatened never to appear again. The two following were written on the occasion : ON staaa's sumacs. No wonder that Mara declares She will quit for the joke of a clown, She may certainly gips herself awe, Who glen them so oft to the town ve MARA, ON Hit agues maim' neutalm. Lament not, Mara, that a ruffian throng With brutal outrage paid thy magic song; They whose low minds could triumph in thy path, Knew not the merit'of thy matchless strain. Such were the rout, as ancient bard. relate, Who hurl'd the hapless Orpheus to his fate, He whom melodious song could brutes subdue, In vain implor'd a fiercer human crew? Dr. WILLIAM HUNTS,' used to relate the following 'anecdote:—During the American war, he was consulted by the daughter of a Peer, who confessed herself pregnant, and requested his assistance. He advised bet to retire for a time to the house of some confidential friend. She said that was impossible, as her father should not suffer her to be absent from him a single day. Some of the servants were, therefore, let into the secret, and the Doctor made his arrangement with the Treasurer of the Foondlitig Hospital. for this reception of the child, for which he was to pay 1001. The Lady was debited to weigh well if she could bear pain without alarming the family by her cries; she said " yes," and she kept her word. At the usual period, she was delivered, not of one child only, but of twins. The Doctor, bearing the two childreu,wasccmducted by a French servant through the kitchen, and left to ascend the area steps into the street. Luckily the Lady's maid recollected that the door of the area might per haps be locked, and she followed the Doctor just in time to prevent his being detained at the gate.' lie deposited the children at the Pow:ldling Hospital, and paid for each 1001. The father of the children was a Colonel in the army, who went with his regi ment io America; and died there. The Mother afterwards mar ried a person of her own rank. s•._ • ' ASSIZE INTELLIGBI Caorrn Bias—Before Mr. Buys VANS/lAA Thafftai Gyde 'was. indicted, chirrged with assaulting Hannah West, at F'ainiwirsk, in this county, on the 25th of August, with intent to commit a rape. Mr. Junius said, it would be necessary, /Vern the peculiar circumstances in this case, for him to address a few observations to the Jury, on the disgusting of 'fence which was about to become the subject of their Iconsidetation. The prisoner was a young man, about 1 2"/ years of age, a married man, and the poor woman ,wlio had to complain of his blond violence (the effects of which she was suffering from up to this very hour) was about 50 years of age. About haiLpist five in the evening of the 25th of August last, she was employed aids the psips-44,ka wheat rick, rolling thi sheaves to him, viben,'ill'e workmen having gone to a little tance, he proceeded to take liberties with her, and at tempted to possess himself of her person against her will. He (Mr. Justice) would not enter into the details of the case, which the Jury would hear from the unfor. ionate woman herself ; but he would say this,--that, if there was any man in Court not divested of ever y feel- - ing which could dignify the manly halm who could be hardy enough to come forward and say that he had been within the hearing of the screams of this poor woman, which he would prove were beard at the dis tance of 200 yards, and had not gone to her assistance, that man would go diigraced from the Court, worthy to be excluded from every happiness of social life. It was a hardship in cases of this kind peculiarly afflicting to the sex, and certainly most distressing, that they had not only to undergo the wounded feelings and sufferings occasioned by the injuries they had received, but were obliged to come before strangers, and before a male audience, to disclose the details of the case. The Jury were to judge between insulted virtue on the one hand, 484 brutality on the other ; and he (NIL Justice) was . offifident that in this case, the unfortunate prosecnttia would go out of Court with that commiseration and respect that was due to her character. Hannah West was then called, and Mr.Jiranne pros cured her, by permission of the Court, the accommoda tion of a chair. She appeared to be in a very weak and nervous state. She said she was 54 years of age, and a single woman. She had been employed, on the 25th of August last, in building a wheat-rick with the pri soner, who is a married man, with five young children, his wile having been delivered of one on Sunday last. The witness then proceeded to detail the conduct of the prisoner on the wheat-rick, which was amply sufficient to establish the charge. She called out as loud as she could for an hour and a half, and said the Lord's Prayer. He continued to abuse her till Mary Picnic came up the ladder. when the prisoner called out to Mary Prout, that if she did not go down, he would kick her down. He ht the witness get up, and she got off the rick, and told Mary Prom all that had happened. Cross•examined by the prisoner.—l was leasing in the field the night before, you did not tell me your father would not allow it ; I did not say don't say any thing about it, and you shall have a kiss to-morrow. No one gave me ss. to get a warrant and make this complaint. By Mr. Baron VAUGHAN.--The prisoner's wife is under thirty. Sarah Prout said, I was working for John Wright. and left work about half-past six o clock. I know where Samuel Gyde's rick is, near a lane which I had to pass through ; as I was going past, I heard the screams of a person in great distress. I had heard them first two hundred yards off, for a quarter of an hour before I came to the rick ; I heard a cry of 4. Oh dear, Oh dear, what shall I do!" When I got to the rick, I went up the ladder towards the noise, and saw the prisoner and Hannah West. (The witness then described the situa• tion of the parties, corroborating the testimony of the prosecutrix). Gyde said he would knock me.off the lad. der; I jumped off, and Hannah West followed me, and said she had been used very ill; she was very moth alarmed, her tears ran down in streams. Hannah Worgan said, I live 186 yards from the wheat-rick, and remember the evening of &tor dAy, the 26th of August. I heard a cry of some one in distress about six o'clock, I thought it was some one beating a boy. I heard it for twenty minutes ; the noise came from the direction of the rick. The prisoner, on being called on for his defence, said, that on the Friday evening preceding the prosecu• trix was leasing in his Pather's field; he told her his father would not allow it, and she said if he said nothing about it, he should have a kiss the neat day. After the men left the rick, he said to her, " Now, Hannah, ire have got a little time to have the kiss you promised 'me." He went to take it, and they went down tope. ther, but nothing at all unprudent took place. She cried out that her bonnet was crumpled, and that was all she said till the woman came up the rick, when sht said, " Now I have got something against you, and I will make you pay for crumpling my bonnet." Two men were in Court all Saturday who were by the rick all the time. Mr. Baron VAUOHAN haying summed up the evi. dence, the Jury found the prisoner Guilty. Mr. Baron VAUOHAN—Prisoner, you have been con victed on the clearest and most satisfactory evidence of a most aggravated misdemeanor. It is most fortunate for you that you were not indicted for the capital offence, as I am not sure that you would not have been convicted ; and if you had, I should have felt it my duty to leave you for execution, as a terrible example to the offended laws of your country. I never heard I anything stated which gave me more pain, than that there were men within hearing who refused to step for ward and rescue the unfortunate woman in her distress. Such conduct is most disgraceful to them. and must receive universal execration. The Learned Judge, after commenting on the aggravated nature of the prisoner's offence, as a married man with a young family, pro. noonced the sentence of the Court, that he should be imprisoned in the Penitentiary for two years, and be kept to hard labour during the whole of that time. Williams Clutterbuck, aged 71, was indicted for an assault, with intent to commit a rape, on Mary Ann Workman, an infant under 10 years of age. The unfortunate child seemed to be very deficient in intellect, and the case against the prisoner was fully substantiated by a respectable female, who, ai sbe was coming through the fields to Gloucester, witre azd the behaviour of the prisoner to the child. The Jury found the prisoner Guilty. -Mr: Baron VAUGHAN, after remarking on the cant. mitt' of the prisoner's .offelsee t , as a time of life when he must soon expect to appearbefois his Maker, sentenced the prisonerto two Sears imprisonment and bard labour is the Penitentiary 4 . . rSarah Racey was indicted for stealing, in the p ar i s h h of St. Philip and St. Jacolkfroin the dwelling-boos of