Star. — London, England, 1808-03-05 00:00:00

siivricAL frirnmozgcic. HELSINGBURG, , • • F r enCh privateer, Of 16 'guns, is aziited it 'Sta. after having captured the Andalusia ; the e tb r ry , Castle, --, and the Edmund and Miry, as E ng lish brig has also been carried into Norway by a D a nish privateer. FALMOUTH, MARCH 2. mo v ed this evening the Princess Charlotte packet, capta i n Naafi, with mails from the Leeward Islands, si d a ys passage from thence—the brings an account idle capture of the Duke of Montrose packet, Cap tain Dostv, by the French privateer la Confiance, gans,.and 90 men, after an action of two hours and sha y, to which the privateer had nine men killed, ,„a two wounded. Captain DYNELY, his mate, and f or seamen fell in the action. The Duke of Mont. sese ar rived at Barbadoes on the 23d December, and f ou nd there His Majesty's ships Acasta, Cerberus, p ar t, and Camilla —on the 27th December, His Ma. I t tr's ships Diamond and NimrOd arrived there with 3 frerich privateer.—Sailed the True Briton privateer oa a cruize. PLYMOUTH, MARCH 3. c ame i n the Atlantic, (American ship) Captain G uav a, from Charente, bound to Tenerife with brandy, detained by the Growler gun brig. It ap pears that the embargo on the American ships in the ports of Fiance, has been taken off. Letters have been receint this day from Gibraltar, by which it appears , that the Rochefort squadron past the Gut 27th January last, having eluded the vigilance of or cruizing squadron, and are supposed to have re for Toulon. On the 12th ult. there were in Gi bolus. Bly nine sail of the line. Rear Admiral Sir ISTRACHAN is said to be gone into the Mediterra. aps in Vest of the escaped squadron. Sailed the lister, of 18 guns, on a cruize. PORTSMOUTH, MARCH 4. rived the following vessels from the Downs, , sia, the proselyte, for Barbadocs ; John, CRABTREE, the Brazils ; and the Comet, M'DoNALD, for Ja maica ; also the Hearty gun-brig, from a cruize.— Oiled his Majestft ship Pilot, on a cruize. Dropt down to St. Helen's his Majesty's ship Lion, to con vey the fleet for the East Inches, which will sail the first fair wind..—Wind S. DOVER. MARCH 4. Altved off bore last night, the American brig Eunice, Captain HUNTER, from Lisbon, in twenty tight days. General FRAZER, and family, landed from her, having procured passports from JrNoT to We Portugal. The French colours were flying on the forts, and on board all the Portuguese ships in the Tagus. Thirty thousand troops were in Lisbon under the French General ; they were chiefly corn. raid of Germans, and a great number of them very young. The inhabitants were much distressed for bread, and no chance of getting any supplies. All the English who could be found, were confined in prisons. The Russian ships remained in much the same state as they have been for some time past. The different accounts that have been circulated respecting the insurrection in Lisbon, are very much exagge. rated, as but few lives have been lost. Six P. M—A boat is this instant come on shore from . an American vessel, but her name the boatmen did not enquire, she being under quarantine. The Captain of her reports that he fell in with another American vessel off Cape St. Vincent, that had been detained three days by the Rochefort squadron, which be said had actually gone into Cadiz, and that he give this information to Admiral Dvcxwortrx, whom he fell in with on the following day. The boatmen did not enquire the time when this happened. Passed by a convoy from the Downs, bound to the west. ward.—Wind N. E. blows strong, with a thick fog. DEAL, MekitCH 4. Sailed this Morning his Majesty's ship Beagle' with the outward-bound, &c. under tonvoy for Ports mouth, Arrived the Pidgeon schooner, from the Northward, and remains in the Downs with the rest of the ships as per last.—Wind N. W. foggy, YARMOUTH, MARCH 4. This morning arrived the Sappho sloop of war, and has brought in with her a Danish privateer, with two decks, which she captured off Scarbro' Castle, on Wednesday, after an engagement of an hour and a quarter: she canied 30 guns and* about 120 men, well-found in stores and provision; she is called the Admiral Railleur, and has 12 eighteen-long pounders on her lower deck, and 16 sixes, with two long swivels, on carriages, on her upper deck. The second Cap tain and another man was killed, and 10 men wound ed,on board the privateer—she has suffered very much in her stern and rigging, as the Sappho raked her several times. The Sappho had only three men ;rounded, which was by the upsetting of one of her own carriages, in which the pilot had his leg broken, and is brought on shore to the Hospital. The priva teer, during her cruize, had taken five sail of mer ntmen—had on board when taken between SO and 90 men, who belonged to the Danish navy. The Sappho chased her from 11 o'clock till half-past one. . Remain the ships of war as per last. • FROM LLOYD'S UST. Ca aCtuNn, Miaow 4.—Passeci by the Anna, Sly, from Wa terford ; Hector, Griffiths, from Dublin ; Newry, Reily ; and the Vine, 'Waite!, from Newry ; Eliza, Grocet A•,-xonoria, Martin; and the 'row Eugenia, irotrog, from St. Michaels ; Gordon, from Virginia ; Albion, Gammon, from ; I) ra, ri:v•inulions, from Belfast ; Three Brothers, Morton ; In 14,istry, hiker Diamond, Sumner ; and the Continent , Ga b riel, Omit%) rrizes'• from Plymouth. k;ik • . COM M 07 kink 's 137Nbt, itALCII i. CRIM. COIL. ~ r _ -• suss GREW*, ES*. ID. ettoatite Trrowni- The curiosity excited in the City by the unfortunate circuinstances which gave rise to this cause occasioned all the avenues to the Court to be crowded at a very early hour. It was an action brought by the Plain tiff (of the firm of Gregson and Dixon, Solicitors in Angel Court, Throgmorton-Street) against his own coachman, for criminal conversation with his wlle. The ATTORNEY GENERAL, after the pleadings had been opened by Mr. GAsit.za, said, that.this was one of the most distressing cases which bad ever been sub mitted to a Jury. The Plaintiff, by his diligence and integrity, had acquired great eminence, and with it . an ample fortune in the profession of the law. Early in 1791, living at the house of a friend in the north of ' England, he became acquainted with die lady whom he had now the misfortune to call his wife. His propo sals were approved by her parents, the ceremonies were performed, and he brought her home. They con tinued for a great number of years to live together in i the most perfect harmony ; she latterly residing at his country house, at Leyton, in Essex, and he, during the day, occupied in his multifarious concerns in town, but always returning at night with transports to his loved wife. She had been educated in the path of ho nour and virtue, and belonged to' a respectable fa mily ; she had every prospect of permanent happiness. The Jury would expect that he should state some par ticulars of the evidence, to shew how these fair pros pects were obscured, and how this lady could conde scend to the klegradation to which she submitted with her own coachman. The Learned Counsel here stated some of the facts, which we shall not notice here, as they will be disclosed by the depositions of the 'witnesses. He then concluded in these words : " I desire not, Gentlemen, to inflame your passions ; I de sire nothing for the Plaintiff but that to which he is entitled for the injury he has sustained ; and I desire you to take into the account, his eminent situation, his purity of character, and his irreproachable conduct as a husband." The Rev. Thomas Hamilton produced the regis ter of the marriage, on the 12th of March, 1792, be tween the Plaintiff and Grace Close. The ceremony was performed by himself, at Guiseley, in the diocese of York. Mr. Close, the brother of the Lady, and Mr. Cooke, 'of the Chancery bar, proved the attentive and affec tionate conduct of the husband. The latter being asked, on his cross-examination, whether they had any children ? said they had no family at this time, but that Mrs. Gregson had had a child, which live.! only a few days. Mrs. Meade was next called, and being in a state of great infirmity, she was brought in, with difficulty, through a crowded Court, in a chair ; and having been placed on the table, after a short pause, she de posed.that she was the wife of Mr. Meade, who lived in a cottage in Mark-hall-lane, leading to Waltham stow. She remembered seeing a carriage drive by her door, with a Lady upon the box with the coachman. She saw the coachman stop, and then kiss her. After wards, he helped her down from the box, and touched her leg in an indecent manner. It was at mid-day, last summer. It was the carriage and coachman of Mr. Gregson, and Mrs. Gregson was the lady so situ ated. Her brother, Thomas Raine, in some of the particulars, confirmed the last witness. Elizabeth Downer said, that her husband was por ter at the office of Messrs. Gregson and Dixon, next door to Mr. Gregson's town-house. She took care of the town-house, the family living in the country. On the Ist of January, 1807, she put up her bed, and slept there that night. Mrs. Gregson, between ten and eleven next morning, came in the carriage with Master Frank Clementson, a young Gentleman, about twelve years of age. She was driven by the Defendant. She came into the kitchen, where she remained for ten or eleven minutes, until the coach. man returned from the stable. She before desired the witness to have lamb or mutton chops prepared for his lunch. She went into the dining-room, and returning to the kitchen soon afterwards, said, " Thu ' mas, will you go up stairs, and see the house ?" They went up, and the child after them, when the witness heard the Lady tell the boy to go down and see my little infant. The child replied, that he had seen the baby, and wished to look at the house. They went to the top of the house, and while they were there, a sharp ring was given at the door. The Lady came down, and desired the witness to go to the door, ob serving, that she dared to say it was Mr. Gregson. It was Mr. Clementson, the father of the boy, whose stay Mrs. Gregson endeavoured to shorten. While this Gentleman was there, the coachman and Master l, ' Clementson came down. The coachman said to the husband of the witness, that if he was Mrs. Gregson, he would be d—d if he would put up with the child's i following them up stairs as he did. When Mr. Cle-11 mentson was gone, she asked the witness if there were any house-flannels; and being told there were done, she sent the boy to his father's, in Basinghall street, for half-a-dozen yards of flannel. She then again called the toachman to her, and went up with him again to the garrets, where the bed of the witness was placed. The witness had made her bed in the morning. The coachman and his mistress continued up-stairs about a quarter-of-an-hour. Afterwards, during the whole morning, they continued backwards and forwards together in the dining-room and kitchen. Between two and three, the witness went into the garret, and e!sserved that the bed had been pressed, as if persons had been lying down upon it. Some attempt had been made to raise the bed-clothes, but not so as to impose upon the witness. She remarked to her husband what had passed, and said to him that it had a vefy odd appearance. At another time, her mistress went to dine at Mr. Dixon's, next door, when she told the witness she would not go there till the last moment. She had been with the coachman in the course of the day.' Mrc. Close, her mother, was in the house, but went out early. Mrs. Gregson said to the witness, before' she left the house, " The coachman is gone to Mrs. Tate's ; when he returns, come for me." When the man came back, he desired her to go and tell his mistress that he wanted her. The witness replied, that it was not a proper message, and she would not carry it. Thomas was impatient, and desired the -witness to gay, that Mrs.. Tate did not understandsthe note sent. The witness then delivered the message, when the lady asked her if the coachman was in the -~--: • honie, S and desired her to tell him that hitirdstrcli ' was coming. The lady came in immediately. I was a quarter past seven in the evening. 'When she went into the 'parlour, ?he• witness was leaving a can dle, and said that she would leave it until she brought the parlour candles. The lady replied, that she dui not want any candles,. and following the witness into the kitchen, enquired, if her Mamma's room was ready, as her mamma would sleep in town that night? The dining:room shutters were shut, where the Lady was in the dark, and the witness presently afterwards heard her call Thomas in a very low tone of voice. The witness was, by the desire of her mistress, pre paring Mrs. Close's bed, bat, suspecting something, she went down, and listened ten stairs from the door, without a light. The door was not quite shut, not a word was spoken. A sofa was in the room, two feet from the door. The witness, her mistress, and the coachman, were the only persons in the house. The Witness had no doubt but there was a criminal con nection between Mrs. Gregson and the defendant at that time. Afterwards she Went 'up stairs, and there was a ring at the door. She ran down quickly, think ing to catch them coming out of the dining-room, and she did so. The room was still in darkness. Mrs. G. came running out, the coachman following her. She desired the witness to go up :mks, for she dare to say it was her mimma. She said to the witness, " Should my mamma ask you how long I have been in, tell her, that I have been in a very short time, and that I have been with you all the while." Mrs. Gregson's dress was very much disordered. At another time, in November last, the husband of the witness came into the kitchen in the evening.— The witness had left the coachman and her mistr,:ss in the dining-room, and had gone up stairs. She ob served her husband listening at the dining-room door, or looking over the bannisters • when she 'hard her fist at him, and told him not to listen, for if her mistress should come out and surprise him, the house would not hold her. There were then two car.dles in the dining-room, the window-shatters were closed, they both afterwards joined to listen, and had no doubt but that there was a criminal intercourse at that time. Lord ELLENBOROI:GII" I suppose there is not a human being who can have any doubt. Any one of the instances would have been of itself sufficient." The witness, on her cross-examination, said, that Mrs. Gregson was very much addicted to liquor. Se veral Gentlemen used to visit her ; but the witness had seen no instances of improper familiarity, excep ting with one Gentleman. He came, she thought, one day in February, drew down the window-blind, and then joined his chair close to the lady's. This ob servation induced her to listen, and she had no doubt hut that there was a criminal connection between them at that time. The Gentleman was frequent in his visits. On her re-examination, she added, that he was a near neighbour, and she understood that he was a widower with a family. He was an intimate friend of Mr. Gregson. The coachman was about 26 years of age. Mr. TOPPING being now called upon for his defence, he complained, that there was such a prodigious press in Court, that his attorney could get no access to him. Lord ELLENBOROUGH remarked to the Sheriff, that on such occasions a sufficient attendance of officers should be procured. After a passage had been opened, and the Attorney admitted with great difficulty, Mr. TOPPING said, that it was his painful duty to appear as Counsel for the Defendant on this extraor dinary occasion. He heartily joined with his Learned Friend in the encomiums he had passed on the charac ter and conduct of the Plaintiff ; but the question was, not what was due to his character, but what was due to him for the loss of the society and comfort of his wife ? There was not a tittle of evidence to spew that the Defendant had by any arts triumphed over the virtue of this woman ; and it was somewhat singular, that although the Plaintiff had a house and. establish ment in the country, where the Lady entirely resided, not one of the servants there had been called to de pose to this criminal intercourse. The fact of the adultery he should not dispute. After the coach-box scene, was it to be said that the Plaintiff was deprived of the society of a decent, respectable, and virtuous woman? The defendant was not the only man with whom this profligate wife was in the habit of crimi nally connecting herself. There 'was a Gentleman frequent in his visits, whose name his own delicacy, and that of his brethren at the bar, had suppressed; and it was proved, that he had had the same iniquitous intercourse. It was likewise to be recollected, that this Lady was addicted to drinking, and that, from every view of her character, she was wholly unfit to be the companion of the Plaintiff, who, instead of sustaining any loss, by being deprived of her society, was in fact indebted to this menial' in his service, for being the instrument of their separation. There must be a verdict for the Plaintiff; but the smallest damages, which must carry costs, would consign the Defendant to a gaol, as he could as easily pay the national debt, as the expences incurred in this action. Lord Exxxsistmoomi, after stating the nature of the cction, observed, that the fact of the adultery of Mrs. Gregson with the Defendant was admitted; indeed, what was proved to have passed on the coach-box, and the gross familiarity in descending from it, was sufficient to argue conclusively further intercourse. Under the circumstances, the Defendant could not properly be considered u the seducer; the principal blame rested with the woman, who was net now the object of punishment ; but the servant who had lent himself to the licentious overtures of a profligate mistress, must be deemed to be highly culpable. He also appeared to be the first person who had a connection with her, as the Gentleman who was in the circumstances stated, was at the house in Feb...l - ; and it was to be lamented, that committing this outrage on the honour of his wife, he was the intimate friend of the husband. The Learned Counsel, from ntotives of reserve, avoided Men tioning the name of this person; but it was an exercise of deli cacy not jusified by the fact ; for he, as the neighbour and friend of the Plantiff, in every moral oint of view, was infinitely more disgraced than the Defendant. Although this priority, in point of crime, appeared on the evidence with the Defendant, yet there was probably a prior connection with the gentleman, for there was no courtship between him and the lady, the blin d was pulled down, and the intercourse seemed to commence with the usual ceremonies of a brothel. But, with whomsoever she com mitted the first offence, certain it was that she was a mos* aban doned woman. She appeared to have been guided by the mere impulse of lust ; and in the indulgence of her gross appetites, she must be supposed to have laid all delicacy prostrate before her.— For the purpose of assigning damages, the Gentlemen of the Jury would consider the extent of the loss the Plaintiff had sustained. If the Defendant had been the means of destroying the purity of this lady, his Lordship would not have advised the Jury to abridge one farthing of the usual damages, .rin account of his menial situ ation ; and they would recollect that persons in such a condition of life, who surround a family, arcs not to be permitted to bask the peace of families with impunity. After a short deliberation, the Jury, without quit tin the box, delivered a—Fin/idler the Plirs0:0001. • -1, HBla"PiR11) CIRCUIT, MATCH 4. Mr Justice HEALT* irrived yeiterday making, and • read the King's Commission for holding the Assize:. Muitnia AT, tiontiesoom--Thonsas Simmons was in dicted, for that he, at Broxboorn, in this county, on the 20th of October last, did mike an assault on Sarah Humnterstone, and wilfully gave her a mortal wound in the neck with a knife, of which she •nstantly died. This is the case of the inhuman wretch who muse dered the two unfortunate women at Hoddesdon, and the Court was crowded at an early hour in the mor ning to hear the trial. It did not last long, as the facts lay in a very narrow compass. Mr. POOLE?, as Counsel for the prosecution, stated to the Jury, that it was not possible but they must have heard of the case. He intreated them to dismiss from their minds all they had heard elsewhere, and attend only to the evidence which would be laid before them. He then stated the facts as below detailed, and called the following witnesses : Samuel James, a Surgeon at Hoddesdon, deposed, that on the 20th of October, he went to the house of Mr. Boreham, at Hoddesdon. On gring to the house, he saw Mrs. Hummerstone leaning against the paling near the door ; she was then alive, but died in three minutes after, of a wound in the neck, near the spine. Sarah Harris, servant of Mr. Boreham, said she had lived four years with him ; Simmons, the priso ner, had lived there three years, and quitted it last Michaelmas : the prisoner wished to marry her, but her mistress disapproved of it : they had quarrelled before he quitted the service, on Which occasion he beat her; and when he had done, he said he did not care if he had killed her. He has often said he would make away with her, because she would not marry him. About half past eight in the evening of the 20th of October, he came to the house : she was in the kit chen, and heard him coming along the yard ; he was swearing violently. He came up to the window, and struck at her through the lattice, and swore he would do for them all. She desired him not to make a noise, as they had company : he said he did not care for the company, he would do for them all. Mrs. Huminer stone, hearing the noise, opened the room-door, and came to the yard. She told him to go away. He gave her a blow on the head, which knocked off her bonnet —she ran into the house, and he immediately follow ed her. The witness immediately heard the shrieks of murder, but did not know from whom. All the family were in the room, viz. the three young ladies, Mr. Borcham's daughter, Mrs. Warner, the married daughter, Mr. Boreham and his wife, and Mrs. Hum merstone. In a very short time, the prisoner came to the wash-house to her : she shut the door, and cried out murder. The witness ran into the sitting-room. She there saw some one lying under the window— she ran from thence down a passage, the prisoner fol lowed her. She there met her master with the poker in his hand ; in running hastily, her master, who is a very old and feeble man, was knocked down. The prisoner caught her, and threw her down, and drew a knife on her. He threw her across Mrs. Warner, who was lying dead, as she believed. r . He drew the knife across her throat, but she guarded it with her hand, which was cut. He made a second blow, when she wrested the knife out of his hand. He immediately ran away, and she saw no more of him. Sarah Cakebury said, she lived near Mr. Boreham, and heard the cry of murder. She passed Mrs. Hum merstone, and went into the house ; she saw Mrs. Warner lying dead under the window. George Britton said, on the evening of the 20th October, he went to Mr. Boreham's, at Hoddesdon : finding what had been done, he went in search of the murderer; in the cow-house, he found Tom Simmons's hat; he went in further search, but the prisoner was found by another party. Thomas Copperwheat went in search of the mur derer. He discovered Simmons concealed under some straw in a crib in the farm-yard ; he had on him a smock frock, very bloody ; the place where he was' found was about 100 yards from the house. BENJAMIN ROOK, the Coroner, said, when the evi dence of Harris was read to the prisoner, he said it was very true, he had murdered them, and no one else. He added, that he did not intend to have mur dered Mrs. Hummerstone, but he went with the inten tion of murdering Mrs. Boreham, Mrs. Warner, and Harris, the maid-servant. The constable who carried him to prison deposed to the same effect. The prisoner also told him, that when he had got Betsy down, he heard something fluttering over his shoulders, which made him get up and run away. The Prisoner being called upon to know if he had any thing to say, answered; in a careless tone—No! Mr. Justice HEATH told the Jury, the case was so very clear, that it must be unnecessary for him to ad dress any observations to them ; the Prisoner, as they had heard, had more than once voluntarily confessed his guilt—The Jury found him Guilty; and the Learned Judge - immediately pronounced the sento_nce of the law —that he should be hanged on Monday next, and his body anatomised.—He heard the sentence of death with great indifference, and walked very coolly front the bar.—The young girl, whom he attempted to murder, was in great agitation, and was obliged to be supported while she was in Court. Simmon: was convicted through the exertions of Mr. W. White, Mr. B. Fairfax, of the Bull inn, Hoddesdon, and Mr. J.Brown, the church-warden of that place, the Quakers refusing to come forward as prosecutors. Next Tuesday (the First day of drawing) is of great importance to every one who is desirous cf sharing, in the State Lottery, a Capital Prize.— HORNSBY and Co. hope their Friends wal not lose o favourable an opportunity, and buy their Ticket or Share before the Drawing begins. Orders, by. post or carrier, executed on . the same terms as if pre sent. 26, Cornhill, 52, Charing Cross, and St. Mar garet's Hill, Eoraugh. Next Tuesday the State Lottery begins Drawing ; .and as there are no Capital Prizes fixed for any dis tant days, those who purchase before the drawing be gins, have an evident advantage over those who buy after, as all the Capitals may be drawn the first day. T. Emu, therefore, advises the public to purchase as early as possible at his old established Offices, No. 4, Cornhill, and 9, Charing Cross, where 38 Capital Prizes were Shared and Sold in the last year, including two Prizes of 30,0001.—Prizes paid on demand. MARRIED—At Lochmalony, Fifeskire, on tae•l9ttt wttmo, Major Boyd Horsbrugh, of Pittladdo, to bliss Scott, daughter ttf Major Thomas Scott, of Lochmilony. 1 1' 1 _ I 1 ' 1 1 1 ' i aces iu ase, rest and the hine rea the d to nian rer. xals ived ward op' rered